The Case of the Look Alike Detective
by kaleen1212
Summary: Perry and Della travel to San Franciso to defend a young man accused of killing a cop.  Perry finds he must either butt heads with San Franciso's famous detective, Chief Robert T. Ironside or enter into an unusual alliance with him.
1. Chapter 1

The Case of the Look Alike Detective

Chapter 1

Raymond Burr is one if my all time favorite actors. I love both Perry Mason and Ironside series. I thought it would be fun to combine both characters. Imagine those two minds working the same case. Not to mention their "uncanny" resemblance to each other!

I do not own Ironside or Perry Mason. Just borrowing the characters for this fanfiction.

I do not claim to have any legal training. Please accept the story for what it is intended…entertainment.

1.1

Perry Mason

Perry Mason was sitting at his desk reading the early edition of the newspaper. On the front page was Chief Robert T. Ironside of the San Francisco Police Department. He had just wrapped up a serial killer investigation solving the murders of 11 college women killed on campus. Standing beside him was the police commissioner, Dennis Randall and behind Chief Ironside's wheelchair was a young black man who was not identified by the paper.

Mason had heard quite a bit about the famous police detective. Randall always called him in on high-profile cases and on those no one else seemed to be able to solve. He had even been called upon to other cities to solve their cases. He had a remarkable deductive ability that Mason admired, a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. Mason had stopped by Ironside's office while in San Francisco hoping to meet the man but Ironside was out-of-town, apparently in Montreal, Canada. Too bad, the conversation could have been fascinating.

He had a feeling he would be getting that chance to meet him if he accepted the case resulting from a phone conversation late last night.

Perry was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the outer office door open.

Della Street opened the door to the lawyer's office and walked in. "Perry, what are you doing here so early?" she asked as she moved in the direction of his desk. Suddenly she stopped as she noticed Mason was still wearing the same suit he had on the day before. She looked into his handsome face. His normally sparkling blue eyes were heavy with dark circles under them. "Don't tell me you stayed here all night again?"

As Della stood in front of her boss with her hands on her hips, Mason gave her a tired smile. "I took a nap. Does that count?"

"What possibly could have kept you here all night? We won the Williams case last week. We are always busy with cases but nothing we are working on now should have kept you in this office. Perry, I must insist you take better care of yourself," Della complained to him.

Perry stood up and walked around to the front of the desk, sat on the edge folding his arms across his massive chest and looked at Della.

He wondered how he ever got any work done. There stood before him one of the most beautiful women he had ever known and she was completely devoted to him both professionally and privately. Since she walked into his life, she had organized his business and his life. He could not even begin to imagine how he had managed before she came along. She was involved in every aspect of his cases. He had come to depend on and respect her opinion. Della's intuition when it came to clients was invaluable. It quite often determined whether Perry accepted a case. Many would-be clients never made it into his office if Della felt uncomfortable with them or did not believe them. Perry never questioned her judgment as he always found it to be sound. While working on important cases, he never worked alone. Della worked the long hours with him and accompanied him when his attentions were required outside of the office. She had become more than a confidential secretary. She had become his partner.

Privately was no different. They had become inseparable. Not long after hiring her Perry realized how much he was attracted to her. That figure, her hazel eyes, her chestnut curly hair, that throaty laugh, those long beautiful legs, all drove him crazy. Although for the first year of her employment he kept their relationship on a professional level, it became harder for him to do so. He found himself looking for reasons to keep her with him after hours. It gave him an excuse to insist on taking her to dinner rewarding her for her dedication to the job and him. He carefully selected establishments that had dancing. It presented an opportunity for Perry to hold her close to him. He wondered if she realized that his hold was closer than a boss would normally maintain with "just a secretary". If Della noticed, she did not give him any indication nor did she seem to have any objections. When Perry would come in physical contact with Della with a casual touch, he would linger a bit longer than what would be considered normal. When walking with her in public his hand would find its way to the small of her back as he guided her beside him. He was completely unaware that Della held the same attraction for him. She never turned him down when asked to work late. She reveled in being with him. His touch set her skin on fire. She loved his dark hair, the massive frame and when he smiled that boyish grin with sparkle dancing in his piercing blue eyes she felt weak at the knees. Della continued to hope Perry felt the same for her but decided it was only her active imagination. Perry had always been a gentleman, never crossing the line between boss and employee.

Perry finally acted on his feelings. After a particularly late night Della's car would not start. Perry, not being very mechanically inclined, offered to take her home and have the vehicle picked up in the morning to be taken in to a repair shop. Della accepted and slipped into Perry's Cadillac convertible. It was a warm night and the top was down. Neither spoke as he drove to her apartment. Upon arrival, Della got out of the car. "Thanks, chief. If it would be alright with you can you pick me up in the morning?"

"Of course," Perry replied as he got out of the car and hurried around the front to catch up with Della. "I'll see you to your apartment."

Della pushed the button on the elevator. When the door opened up Perry and Della stepped inside and rode the elevator to Della's floor. When the door opened, Perry took Della's elbow and walked her to her door. Taking the key from her, he unlocked her door, opened it and guided her inside.

"Would you like a nightcap, chief?" Della asked him with a smile.

"I would love one, thank you." Perry took off his suit coat, laid it over the back of a chair and sat down on the couch.

A couple minutes later Della returned with two glasses of wine. She handed Perry a glass and sat down beside him. "Well Counselor, what shall we drink to? Shall we drink to the successful conclusion of the Williams case?"

"I have a better idea. Let's drink to us." They touched their glasses together and Perry took a sip while watching Della over his glass as she did the same with him. The lawyer put his glass down on the coffee table, took Della's glass out of her hand and set it on the table. Cradling her chin with his hand he looked into her eyes with a hungry desire. Della almost gasped, as she could not believe what she was seeing in those blue eyes. Could it actually be true? Did he feel the same for her as she did for him? Perry slowly lowered his lips to lightly brush them against hers. As Della quivered and moved closer to him, Perry kissed her. He deepened the kiss as Della responded.

Perry broke their kiss so both could regain their breath. "I have been dreaming of kissing you for so long. I simply could not resist any longer. Della, I love you. I needed for you to know that." He waited for a response.

Della ran her fingers down the side of the lawyer's jaw and touched his lips with her index finger. She looked into his blue eyes and smiled. "I had no idea you felt this way. You gave me no reason to believe we were anything more than good friends outside the office. I thought I was in love alone."

Perry hugged Della to him and chuckled. "Amazing! For two people who communicate so well at work we sure have not been doing very well outside the office. I better get out of here and let you get some sleep. I can no longer guarantee to be a gentleman. Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night? This time an offical date."

Della snuggled up to him. "I am going to have to object on the grounds that I am hungry now."

Perry looked at Della with disbelief and amusement. "You want to go get something to eat at 3:30 in the morning?"

Della lowered her voice to a sultry whisper as she purred into Perry's ear, "who said anything about food?"

He instantly became filled with desire. "Objection sustained," Perry breathed, barely getting the words out. With that, he picked Della up in his arms and headed down the hall. He stopped at the first door and frantically fumbled with the doorknob while Della kissed his neck and ran her hand back and forth across his chest.

Della chuckled. "Counselor, unless you plan on doing the laundry you should try the room at the end of the hall. This is the utility room." Perry headed towards the end of the hall, opened the door and used his foot to shut it once they were on the other side.

With this new closeness came more scrutiny from Della's watchful eye. Nothing escaped her. He had known he would have to answer to her for not going home and getting some rest but he was fascinated by a possible case that might be coming their way.

"Della, last night after you left the phone rang."

"Perry, I left you at 1:00 am and you answered the phone? Who could have been calling at that hour?" Della inquired.

"Jim Whitmore. His son, Scott, has been arrested for murder. I do not have too many details as of yet." Perry picked up the newspaper, staring at the photo of Robert Ironside. "The victim is a police lieutenant. The lieutenant was a former classmate of mine at law school. He failed to make the grades so he went on to become a cop. A shy, retiring fellow, I liked him. He had gotten a job on the force in Los Angeles. We have seen him often while visiting the police station. He left to join the San Francisco police department," Mason explained.

Della put her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp. "My god, Perry! Are you telling me David Martin was murdered?"

"Yes. I am afraid so. Della, Jim is a friend of mine. I handled some legal work for him before you came to work for me. Scott claims to be innocent. Jim believes him. I told him I could recommend a good criminal attorney in his area but he insists I come to San Franciso and defend Scott. He offered to pay us $100,000 and double that when we get him off. Della, this is one I have to consider seriously."

"That is a lot of money. What is the evidence against him?" she asked.

"I don't know very much right now, just what Jim has told me but I told him I would not take the case until I have talked to Scott and the San Francisco police. Della, it goes without saying I need you by my side on this one. Call Paul and explain what is going on. Tell him I need him to go to San Francisco with us. Have him check with Lt. Tragg and get everything he can on Martin's background. What kind of record did he amass as a cop? Have him dig into his activities on and off the job. I want to know if he left the job of his own free will. I also need you to book three flights to San Francisco as well as three motel rooms and make two of those adjoining rooms," Mason said with a great big boyish grin.

"Ok Perry, but why in the world do you and Paul need adjoining rooms?" Della teased.

"Paul can take care of himself but I on the other hand need plenty of ahhh... shall we say, personal attention," he grinned with a twinkle in his eyes.

Della laughed. "I bet you do."

"One last thing, Della. Have you heard of Robert T. Ironside?"

"Of course I have. Who hasn't? He is as famous a detective as you are an attorney. Why?"

Perry handed her the newspaper. "A cop has been killed and I am betting Ironside will not be able to stay out of this one."

Della looked at the photo of Robert Ironside. Shock registered in her eyes.

Suddenly concerned, Perry moved toward her and asked, "Della what's wrong?

Della looked from the photo of Ironside to Mason and back again. "Good god, Perry, don't you see it?

"See what?" Perry asked her.

"Come on Perry, take a few years off this man's age as well as a few pounds and he could be your twin brother. His eyes are the same beautiful piercing blue as yours. The same handsome face, same dimple lines that run down the sides of his jaw. Are you sure you don't have an older brother?"

Perry took the newspaper from her and looked at the color close-up of Ironside. "Well there's a bit of a resemblance I must admit but I see a big difference here; yes indeed a very big difference," he pondered.

Della took the paper from him and studied Ironside. "What difference? I don't see it."

"I am much, much more handsome than this guy!" Mason flashed that grin that usually made her melt. This time she could only laugh at the famous attorney.

Mason then turned serious. "At any rate if I am right we are going to be butting heads with San Francisco's finest detective and as good as Lt. Tragg is, Ironside will make him look like a child playing detective.".


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 02

2.1

Robert T. Ironside

"Where the flaming hell is Ed? He is over an hour late," roared Chief Robert T. Ironside as he wheeled himself toward Eve and barked, "Try him on his mobile phone."

Robert Ironside was a big man. He had piercing blue eyes that some said appeared to be looking right through the object of his attention. Dimpled lines were prominent on both sides of his handsome face. He had broad shoulders and a huge chest and his very presence sent chills through those who crossed him. Ironside was used to getting his own way. If he did not everyone stayed out of his way…..everyone that is except Sgt Edward Brown, Officer Eve Whitfield and Mark Sanger, his live-in aide. Handpicked by Ironside himself and always the target of his frustrations, they had learned to accept his moods. They had come to respect his ability to solve the toughest cases as he pushed them to reach and improve their own capabilities. Ironside was totally dedicated to finding the facts. He was an incorruptible, honest cop who never stopped until he found the truth.

He had been Chief of Detectives for the San Francisco Police Department when a sniper's bullet put him in a wheelchair. Commissioner Dennis Randall appointed him as a consultant to his office. Chief Ironside selected Brown and Whitfield to his staff and added Sanger as his personal aide. They served as his legs while investigating cases at his direction. The chief was loyal to his staff and they to him. He demanded perfection and settled for nothing less. He was a hard man to work for but his staff knew of no other they would rather have for a boss. A position with the Chief was the envy of all cops. His office had a heavy work load, so much so many cops were waiting for a chance to join it as sooner or later it was thought he would have to increase his staff in order to keep up with the cases sent his way by the Commissioner. Yet Ironside preferred his small but trusted staff. As a result long hours were put in by all to keep up with the case load.

He was referred to by fellow police officers as the Ironman on wheels. He was tough, gruff and a no-nonsense type of man who wanted answers yesterday. He was a cop's cop. Envied, loved, feared and revered at the same time, Ironside was San Francisco's finest. Although officially only his own staff answered to him everyone took orders from Ironside and no one ignored him.

"Eve!" complained the Chief. "Have you reached Ed yet?"

"Sorry, Chief. He is not answering his mobile phone and there is no answer at his house either," Eve informed him.

This was going to be one of those days. Ironside hated starting the morning with less than a full staff. He expected his people to be in the office on time or account for his or her whereabouts. Damn it! Ed knew better than not to call in. He wheeled back to the table. As he did so, the phone rang. He resisted the impulse to answer it himself. That was what he had a staff for.

"Chief Ironside's office," Eve announced as she picked up the receiver. She listened for a moment and replied, "Ok, Captain. I will let him know. Keep us informed." Eve walked over to Ironside. "Chief, apparently Ed got a call from Carl Reese after he left here last night. Carl asked for Ed's assistance. That was Captain Smith on the phone. He said one of his men did not report in last night. They were unable to reach him all evening. A body was found in a warehouse about 10:00pm near the bay last night. It was positively identified as Lt. David Martin of homicide. He said an arrest has been made and Chief, you are not going to like it."

The chief started pacing in his wheelchair. There was a time when a policeman was shot he would automatically show up on the scene but it was different now. He had to trust his staff to handle some things for him. Ed was an outstanding detective. And Carl was equally efficient. "I don't like it already," he growled as he continued pacing.

Mark Sanger was at the stove. He had just put on a fresh pot of coffee which was now ready. He poured coffee into two mugs. He set one down in front of Eve and walked over to the table and set a cup of coffee down on the table for his boss. "Chief, you are going to wear a hole in the floor. Here, have a cup of coffee. Ed will call in as soon as he can."

"Well are you going to tell me what it is that I am not going to like, Officer Whitfield or am I going to have to guess? Mark, this coffee is terrible. Put on another pot, will you please."

The phone rang. Ironside could not resist this time. He grabbed the receiver and barked "Ironside" into the phone. "Bob, I just got word that Lt. David Martin has been murdered. You know who his father is, don't you?" Commissioner Randall asked.

Ironside frowned. He hated when his friend started a conversation this way. "Of course I do, Dennis. I have known Councilman Martin for years. Has he been informed of his son's death?" Ironside inquired.

"Yes," Randall replied. "He was informed last night by Carl Reese. He was extremely upset and demanded to know what the police were doing about it. Bob, I don't have to tell you the kind of pressure we are going to get on this one. The mayor has already called and I have six others on the city council demanding this be given top priority. Bob, the council wants you on this one."

"Dennis this is one you could not keep me away from if you tried. Somebody killed a cop and I want him caught and brought in. Ed is with Carl Reese right now. As soon as he calls in I will know more. I will keep you informed." With that Ironside hung up the phone.

Eve walked over to the Chief. "Well?" Ironside inquired.

"Jim Whitmore's son was arrested on suspicion of murder," Eve told him.

Ironside whipped his head around. "Eve, get downstairs and find out what they have on him. No wonder the City Council wanted us on this so fast. We have a dead cop who is the son of a city council member and a senatorial candidate's son is being held for the murder. Where in the flaming hell is Ed!"

2.2

The night before…..

Sgt Ed Brown had been given the night off. He had stopped off at The Angry Bull Tavern for a drink before going home. His cell phone rang. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and answered, "Sgt Brown."

"Ed, this is Carl Reese. I need your help. We got a call from a warehouse near the bay. The night watchman saw a man running out of one of the buildings while he was making rounds. He went in and he found a man lying on the floor. He believes he is dead. Any chance you can meet me there? There was no one available to join me on this one. San Francisco has been a hot bed for every kook in the city tonight. All of the detectives and policemen on duty tonight are busy."

Ed sighed. It was hard enough getting away from the Chief's office. What was he thinking? Did he really think he would get a night off? "Ok, Carl. I'll meet you there but I want you to know this is the first night off I have had in months. The Chief is stingy with that kind of thing. Give me the address," Brown told him. He made a mental note of the address, left the bar and headed out to help Reese. He should just learn to not answer the damn phone.

When Ed arrived at the scene Carl was already there. Ed walked into the building and said, "What have we got?"

Carl looked at Ed and said, "It's Lt. Martin. He's dead. He has been shot in the chest three times. He did not call in this evening and we have been unable to reach him. Let's get a forensic team out here right way, Ed. Call the coroner's office. I'll report it to Captain Smith. And get a sketch artist out here. The guard saw the face of the man who ran out of the warehouse."

Sgt Brown pulled out his cell phone and called the proper authorities. Within the hour the warehouse was crawling with police and investigative teams. Ed closed his cell phone and shook his head. It was going to be a long night.

2.3

Eve came in the door of Ironside's office, walked down the ramp and sat down at the table beside the Chief.

"Well," Ironside said.

"A gun was found at the scene of the crime. It had fired three shots. The ballistic test will be ready this afternoon. The body of Lt. David Martin had three bullet holes in the center of his chest. Death would have been immediate. Fingerprints have been lifted from the gun as well. The warehouse has been checked for fingerprints. The rest Ed will brief you on. I ran into him downstairs. He will be up shortly."

"Eve, I believe Martin was a good, honest cop but I don't want to miss anything. Get on the phone, call the LAPD. There is a Lt. Tragg in homicide there. Talk directly to him. Find out what kind of a record Martin had with them, any commendations, reprimands, etc. He worked under Tragg. Tragg is a good cop. Be careful how you handle him though. I don't want Tragg clamming up if he gets the idea we are trying to tarnish Lt. Martin's reputation. He was fond of him but will give you an honest assessment. I want to know if Martin left out anything from LA that he did not tell us here. Get a court order to check his bank accounts. Find out if he has safety deposit boxes. I want to know who he's been with after hours. In other words I want no surprises. I don't expect any but we will take nothing for granted."

"On it Chief," Eve said as she moved to another table and started dialing.

Ironside picked up the phone and called downstairs. "This is Ironside. I want to speak to Captain Smith." The detective was silent for a few moments and then said, "Jimmy, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Just name it, Chief," was Smith's reply.

"I want Carl Reese assigned to me for the time being. I want a clean investigation and I am not leaving any stone unturned. Can you do that for me, Jimmy?" Ironside asked him.

"Consider it done, Chief. I will tell him to report to you as soon as he is back. If there is anything else we can do down here, give us a call."

"Thanks, Jimmy." With that Ironside hung up the phone.

The door burst open and Ed Brown walked in. "Nice of you to join us, Sgt Brown," Ironside bellowed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 03 San Francisco

3.1

Paul Drake sat in Lt. Tragg's office. Tragg was going through his files looking for Lt. Martin's file. He was clearly upset over the death of the young man he considered a friend. He had written Martin a letter of recommendation when he found out David had applied for a job in the San Francisco Police Department. He had also made a call to Captain Smith of homicide and asked him to give David every consideration. His call had a major bearing on Martin getting the position. In less than five years, he went from detective to sergeant, to lieutenant. Tragg had been proud of the young man he had mentored.

"Lt Tragg, I want you to know how sorry I am about Martin. I know he was a friend of yours," Paul said quietly.

"Drake, just tell me one thing. Are you here for Perry? If so, please tell me he is not going to defend the man who did this," Tragg demanded. His hands were trembling. Lt. Arthur Tragg had seen plenty of death over the years but this one was personal. David had become like a son to him and finding out about his death was a major blow.

"You know I can not answer that, Lieutenant. Under the circumstances, I want you to know I appreciate you helping me. You could have said no."

Tragg looked at Paul and in a near whisper said, "I am helping you because I do not want this man smeared. He was a good cop and a good kid. His record is unblemished. I will be very disappointed in Perry if he defends his killer." He handed the file to Drake and sat down. "Go ahead; take a look but none of the files leaves this office, not even copies."

For the next 20 minutes, Paul read through the file. Tragg was right there was absolutely nothing here that would indicate that Martin was anything but a good cop with an excellent record. There was one arrest Martin made that particularly caught his attention. He made a mental note to check it out. Paul handed the file back to Lt. Tragg. "Thanks, Lieutenant ," Paul told the older man.

"You know, Drake. There is one saving grace here," Tragg pointed out.

"And what would that be?" Paul asked.

"Perry won't find it so easy to undo whatever evidence the San Francisco Police Department puts together. He won't be dealing with me heading the investigation. My guess is this one will be handed to Chief Robert T. Ironside, himself. This time Drake, Perry has met his match or maybe even his better." Tragg got up and walked out of the office.

3.2

Perry arrived at Della's apartment building. He entered the elevator and went up to her apartment. He knocked on the door. A few seconds later Della opened the door. "Hello Counselor," she said with a smile.

Perry returned her smile. "Are you all packed and ready to go, Miss Street?" Perry inquired.

"Yes, Mr. Mason," she answered him as she moved closer to him. Perry pulled her to him and lowered his lips to hers in a kiss that left both of them wanting more. Now was not the time, though. "Is Paul meeting us at the airport?"

"Yes. He has assigned a couple operatives to dig into Martin's record and life here. Where's you suitcase?" Mason asked as he looked around.

"It's still in the bedroom, Perry. Can you get it for me?"

Mason disappeared into the bedroom. Della's suitcase was sitting on the bed. He closed and latched it and brought it to the front door. He was deep in thought when Della came up behind him and put her arms around him. "What's the matter Chief? You have been lost in thought all morning. I could barely get your attention."

"I was just thinking about Ironside. He is going to be tough to deal with. He's thorough and he is going to want someone punished for the death of one of his cops." He is on a whole different level than Lt. Tragg." Perry stared off for a moment.

"Perry, if I did not know you better I would swear you are scared of Ironside." Della turned Mason to face her. "You don't yet know that he will even be heading the investigation."

Perry smiled. "He will be heading the investigation and no, Della, I am not scared of Ironside but I will guarantee he will not be a step behind us like Tragg quite often is. This man is an extremely smart cop and has superior deductive reasoning and he has a staff he trained himself. Ed Brown is an outstanding detective and so is Eve Whitfield. We are going to have to work extra hard on this one if we take it. We better get going. I don't want to miss our flight."

"Perry, he is not the only one with superior deductive reasoning. Paul has always maintained you could investigate your own cases if you had the time and you have Paul who is a very good detective. Besides, from everything I know about Robert Ironside, he wants facts. He searches for the truth. He is not going to bow to pressure to hang Whitmore out to dry if he is not guilty. If that is true and your client is innocent, don't you think he will actually end up helping to prove your case?"

Perry looked at Della and gave her a sly smile. "I am counting on it." Perry picked up Della's suitcase and they left the apartment.

3.3

Ed Brown had dark circles under his brown eyes. His hair, which usually was combed neatly without a single hair out of placed, was mussed up. His tie had been loosened and he looked like he had not slept in days. "Chief, I am sorry. I should have called in and intended to but time just got away from me."

Brown walked over and literally fell into the chair next to Ironside. "This one is going to be explosive, Chief. We found the murder weapon, a thirty-eight. Three bullets were discharged from the gun and all three into the chest of David Martin. He was dead when we arrived. Carl went in the warehouse while I questioned the security guard. The guard's name was Bill Thompson. He said he had been working for the company for six years. His shift was from three to eleven pm. He began his rounds at about eight o'clock pm. He came around the corner of the warehouse just as a man about twenty-five years old came running out at about eight twenty pm. The man looked toward the guard and then continued in the opposite direction. The guard said he did not believe the man saw him as he was in the shadows when he turned the corner around the warehouse. He went into the warehouse, found the body and called the police. He told me he did not disturb the murder scene."

"I had the gun registration checked and found out it was registered to Scott Whitmore. We had brought a sketch artist to the scene after the security guard told us he saw the face of the man who ran from the scene of the crime. When I looked at the police sketch, I knew it was a very good likeness of Scott Whitmore so I woke up Judge Mitchell and got a search warrant for Whitmore's apartment. Chief, we found David's badge hidden behind the washing machine in the utility room. There was heroin buried in the cereal boxes. We found more than fifty thousand dollars in the crawl space under the house. I then put out an APB on Whitmore and he was picked up later after one of our patrol cars pulled him over for a traffic violation. They brought Whitmore in and booked him on suspicion of murder. Carl will have to brief you on the search of the warehouse. As I said he handled that."

"Alright Ed, get some sleep. You can get back on this after you have had some rest," Ironside ordered him.

Brown started up the ramp when Ironside called out, "Sgt. Brown where are you going?"

Brown looked back at his boss with confusion on his face. "I am going home, Chief. You said to get some sleep."

"Go into Mark's room. I need you here if there are any developments. We will wake you up in about 4 hours."

"Gee thanks, Chief. Do you think I need that much sleep?" he said sarcastically.

With a slight grin, Ironside looked at his overworked detective and said, "We can wake you up in a couple hours if you would like."

Ed shook his head and headed for Mark's room.

"Eve, get the ballistics report on that gun as soon as it is ready. Also, I want that lab report yesterday. Did you talk to Lt. Tragg?" Ironside questioned his detective.

"Yes I did, Chief. He said Martin has a clean record as a cop. He was promoted very quickly under Tragg. He had many arrests that led to convictions. He was thorough and a by-the-book cop. Tragg is faxing his record to us later this afternoon. He said we would not find anything that would indicate that Martin was anything but a model police officer." Eve reported.

"Alright. When Carl gets in tell him I want him to start digging into Whitmore's life. I want to know where he's been and what he has been doing. How does he make a living? Get his bank records, phone records. Find out if they picked up a computer at his house and if so, find out what was on it. That should get Carl started. When Ed gets up have him go through Martin's police reports. See if there is anything in there that can help us."

Ironside yelled, "Mark!" Sanger walked out of the kitchen and stood in front of his boss. I want to talk to Jim Whitmore." Mark grabbed his jacket and wheeled the Chief out of the office.

3.4

Perry and Della met Paul at the airport. Paul walked up to them, gave Della a kiss on the cheek and gave his customary greeting, "Hello beautiful….Perry."

Perry greeted Paul and then asked, "What were you able to find out from Tragg?"

"Not a lot, Perry. If his records are accurate, Martin was the model cop. Not one blemish on his record. He has been decorated on three occasions. He wanted to move to San Francisco, so he applied for a job with the SFPD. Perry, there was one thing in there that bothered me. He made an arrest during a narcotics raid that ended with a cop being shot and killed. Martin testified against the man that shot the cop and the jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder one. Hamilton Burger prosecuted the case. When the verdict was announced Donald Griffith stood up, went into a rage vowing that he would kill Martin and he would do it from prison. That was four years ago. I had one of my men check and Griffith is of course still in prison."

"Ok, Paul. Have one of your men follow up on it. Find out if he has had any visitors lately. We need to know if there is any possible way he could have arranged the murder of Martin from his prison cell," Perry instructed him.

Paul drifted off to sleep for the rest of the flight. Perry reached over and took Della's hand bringing it to his lips kissing it. "After we get settled at the motel, I am going to go down to police headquarters and question Scott. I would like you to go up to Chief Ironside's office. I understand it is an attic office. See if you can get me an appointment to talk to him. If not after I talk to Scott, then let him name the time and place."

Perry, Della and Paul hailed a taxicab and headed for the Hilton. Perry tipped the bellman that brought their bags to the desk. The clerk smiled at Mason and said, "May I help you sir?"

Perry smiled back at her and said, "Yes, my name is Mason. I have a reservation for three rooms; two rooms are to be adjoining rooms."

"Yes sir, I have it here. I will need your driver's license and a credit card. Please fill out the registration form." Perry completed the form and finished checking in. The clerk gave him the keys and as Perry turned to go the clerk called to him, "Oh Mr. Mason, I almost forgot there is a message waiting here for you." The clerk gave Mason the message and flashed him another smile.

"Thank you. By the way does this hotel have a restaurant?" Perry asked her.

"Oh yes, sir." She pointed to Perry's right and told him, "Down that hall on the right hand side. The food is excellent and the restaurant is open twenty four hours a day. If you are interested it has a bar and dancing as well."

"Thank you again." Perry smiled one more time then turned and walked back to Della and Paul. "We are on the fifth floor." They headed for the elevator. The bellhop followed. When they arrived on their floor, Perry searched for the numbers. Having found them, he stopped. "Della, you are in 520. I am in 522 and Paul you are across the hall in 521. Paul, as soon as you are settled, please return to my room." With that Perry handed Paul his key and then walked over to Della's room and unlocked the door. The bellhop returned from Paul's room and set Della's luggage in her room.

"Sir, if you will give me your key I will place you luggage in your room," the bellhop told Perry.

"Thank you but you can leave it right there. I will move it over to the room myself." Perry pulled out his wallet and tipped the bellhop twenty dollars. The young man bowed and left the room. As soon as the door was closed Perry took Della into his arms, lowered his head and his lips met hers.

As they separated Della chuckled, "Is this part of the personal attention you require, Counselor?"

Perry grinned. "Only part of it… I said I needed plenty of personal attention but this will have to wait. Paul should be here any second." Perry picked up his suitcase , opened the door between their rooms, and walked through just as he heard Paul's code knock on the door. He walked over, opened the door and Paul walked in. "Boy, I sure could use something to eat. I am starving."

At that moment Della walked through the adjoining door, closed it with her back to Perry and Paul said, "Perry, my room has a hot tub. We could use that for some of that personalized atten-?" She turned around, stopped abruptly when she saw Paul standing there. Her face flushed a rosy red.

Paul's jaw dropped. Although he knew Perry and Della spent a lot of time on the job together, he had no idea they had become involved. Oh, he noticed the looks they gave one another when the other did not know they were looking, but he did not notice anything else in particular that would indicate they had become romantically involved. He decided not to say anything as if he had not noticed the significance of what just happened.

The phone rang. Perry picked it up, "Hello".

"Perry, this is Jim Whitmore. I am downstairs. The front desk would not give me your room number but dialed you for me. Can you come down and talk? I left you a message but I just could not wait until you answered it."

"We will be right down. We will meet you in the restaurant bar," Perry informed him and hung up. Perry turned to his companions and said, "Let's go."

As Perry, Della and Paul walked into the restaurant bar; Jim Whitmore spotted Perry and waved them over to a table he had already secured. Perry shook hands with Whitmore. "Jim, it's good to see you again. I wish it were under more pleasant circumstances. I want you to meet Della Street, my confidential secretary, and this is Paul Drake. Mr. Drake is a private detective I have employed to investigate for us."

Paul shook hands with Whitmore. "Mr. Whitmore," he said to acknowledge the introduction.

They all sat down at the table. Jim Whitmore looked at Perry. "Then you have decided to defend my son?" he asked.

Perry shook his head. "No, I have not yet decided to take the case. I have to talk to Scott first. If I am satisfied he is not guilty, I will defend him. I brought Paul along to speed things up if I take the case."

Whitmore looked directly into Perry's eyes. "Perry, the quicker this is cleared up the better it will be for me. This could hurt my senatorial bid. I am already afraid of what will happen in the polls in the next few days. I can't believe my son could be so thoughtless."

Perry's anger immediately began to surface. Della placed her hand on his knee. It had the desired effect. He immediately calmed and his voice was steady when he spoke. "Jim, understand one thing and understand it right now. If I take this case, my efforts and my concern are Scott's welfare. In another words keeping your son from death row. Your senatorial career will not even enter the picture. Do I make myself clear?"

Whitmore looked down. "Please don't misunderstand me but Scott has been causing me headaches for a while now. He has been arrested twice for possession of heroin. If it had not been for the incompetence of the police department, he would probably be in jail right now."

Perry, Della and Paul looked at one another. Paul spoke up first. "What do you mean incompetence of the police department?"

"The evidence, that is the heroin, came up missing within an hour or two of being checked in," Whitmore reported.

Perry and Della exchanged a glance. "I think we better go see Scott. Paul, while we are at the police station see if you can nose around and find out anything regarding the missing evidence. Let's go," Perry ordered.

Perry's thoughts returned to Robert Ironside. He had an idea but was struggling with whether or not to approach Ironside. He could possibly be the way to win this case but would he agree to an unusual alliance?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 04 The Client.

4.1

"Mark, I want to talk to the Commissioner before we leave. You call Whitmore and make sure he is home." Ironside wheeled himself down the hall and as they reached the commissioner's office Mark headed for a phone.

As Mark turned the corner two policemen were standing in the middle of the hall talking.

"Can you just imagine those two in the same room?" He laughed.

The other man chuckled. "There wouldn't be any room for anyone else with those two colossal egos in the room."

The first policeman laughed again. "Yeah, well my money is on the chief."

Both men roared with laughter and went on their way.

Mark noticed there seemed to be a buzz of whispered conversations among those on the floor. Just then Carl Reese came around the corner.

"Hey Mark. I hear the chief is with the commissioner. I was just told I have been assigned to him for the duration of this Martin investigation. Something has come up he will want to know."

"Could it have something to do with all the chatter that is going on around here?" Mark looked around. There seemed to be a lot of heads together whispering.

"I am sure it does. I walked through the front door and who do you think was at the desk asking to see Scott Whitmore?" Carl was grinning like a boy with a secret.

"My guess is an attorney. He is going to need a good one to get him out of this mess," Mark observed.

Carl looked at Mark and said, "He got a good one. In fact he's got the best damn attorney in the whole country. Perry Mason was the man asking to see Whitmore."

Mark whistled. "Wait until the chief hears this."

"And Mark, I have always thought the chief could find the answers to just about anything but he has outdone himself this time. It looks like he has discovered the fountain of youth and gotten up out of that wheelchair."

Mark just stared at Carl in confusion.

4.2

It was 6:00 pm. Sgt. Ed Brown woke up and left Mark's room. As he entered the office room of the chief's attic residence Eve walked over to him, handed him a cup of coffee and said, "Hello sleeping beauty. The chief said not to disturb you. He said to let you sleep as long as you needed to."

Brown looked around. "Where is the chief, anyway?"

Eve told him, "He had Mark take him to see Jim Whitmore. He hasn't called in or come back yet."

"I thought he was going to have me rousted in four hours," Ed said as he sipped his coffee.

Eve smiled. "You know the chief. He just loves getting under your skin. He made you stay here so that he could be sure you would get uninterrupted sleep."

A frustrated sergeant said, "Well, why did he not just say that?"

Eve shook her head. "And admit he was concerned about you? As long as you keep letting him pull your chain he's going to do it. You're such an easy target," she laughed.

Ed smiled. "I guess I am. But then you should be glad I am or you would be his target. Is the ballistic report back?"

Eve walked over to the chief desk and gave the report to Ed. "Yes, it is and so is the lab report. It is pretty much what we expected. Young Mr. Whitmore is in serious trouble."

Carl Reese opened the door and joined Eve and Ed. "Where's the chief? I was told to report to him for the duration of the Whitmore case."

Ed laughed. "Welcome aboard my friend. It makes me happy when someone joins the team. It gives the chief another target," he said as he continued to read the report. "Oh, and the hours are terrible. Be careful when you finally get to go home. Your dog will think you're a burglar." Upon finishing reading the report he handed it to Carl. "And in answer to your question, the chief is off with Mark to talk to Jim Whitmore."

"I have already read the report and Whitmore is not home. I went there to find out who his son has been hanging out with," Carl told them.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," hollered Ed. Everyone turned towards the door and in walked one of the most beautiful women Ed had ever seen. She was tall, with medium length chestnut hair and a superb figure and long legs.

She walked down the ramp and said, "Hello, would it be possible to speak with Chief Ironside?" She spoke in a low throaty voice that had both Ed and Carl staring at her.

Eve spoke to their visitor. "Chief Ironside is not here at the moment. Can we help you? I am Officer Whitfield." Pointing at Ed she said, "This is Sgt. Brown and Lt. Carl Reese. We are on Chief Ironside's staff."

She smiled, told them she was pleased to meet them and introduced herself. "I am Della Street. I am Perry Mason's confidential secretary. Mr. Mason would like an appointment to see Chief Ironside."

The door slammed open and Mark wheeled his boss inside and down the ramp. Ironside then wheeled himself over to his staff and his visitor. Sgt. Brown turned to his boss and introduced Mason's secretary. "Chief, this is Della Street. She works for the attorney from Los Angeles, Perry Mason. Miss Street, Chief Robert Ironside."

Della looked into the face of the man in the wheelchair. He was a man in his early to mid fifties. He had a handsome face. In fact it was a face she saw every day, only older. She noticed he had those same mesmerizing deep blue eyes and the dimpled lines along both sides of his jaw that she loved so much on Perry. It is said everyone has a twin somewhere. Well, Perry's twin was sitting directly in front of her.

With genuine concern Chief Ironside took her hand and in a gentle voice asked her, "Are you alright, Miss Street? You look like you have seen a ghost. Here, sit down." He continued to hold her hand as he guided her to the chair at the main table.

That voice….the same one that could send chills down her spine when Perry spoke to her. Only this one was deeper. Della realized she had been staring at him and the shock of actually seeing this man in person and not in a picture must have registered on her face.

"I am sorry Chief," Della told him. "I think you will understand my reaction when you meet Mr. Mason. The resemblance between the two of you is just uncanny…unbelievable."

Ironside smiled. "So I have been told. Oh where are my manners?" Pointing out to each of his staff members, Ironside introduced them. "This is Sgt. Ed Brown, Officer Eve Whitfield, and Lt. Carl Reese who is on loan to me right now." Raising his voice Ironside continued, "And the young man banging around in the kitchen is Mark Sanger, my personal aide."

"Well you want to eat dinner, don't you? It does not just appear on the table," Mark said, just a bit sarcastic. Della smiled. She bet he kept the chief in line when he needed it just like she did with Perry.

Ironside frowned in the direction of the kitchen. "Don't mind Mr. Sanger, Miss Street. He is a bit testy since losing his job." That brought out a chuckle or two as proof you did not get the last word with Chief Robert T. Ironside. Della could not help but laugh as she watched the playful bantering back and forth between Ironside and Sanger. It sounded much like the teasing that went on between her and Perry.

"Now what can I do for you, Miss Street?" Ironside asked.

"I don't know if you are aware but Mr. Mason is talking with Scott Whitmore as we speak. There is a good chance he will be representing Mr. Whitmore against the murder charge. He would like to speak with you tonight if it is convenient for you."

Ironside cocked his head to the side. He had been following Perry Mason's cases for some time. He was in great demand and highly paid. He admired the dedication Mason had to his clients. Mason was batting a thousand in the court room. He had yet to lose a case. Ironside knew that this was not luck. Perry Mason had the ability to access people and determine if they were telling him the truth. He chose clients he believed were innocent and then moved heaven on earth to prove it. Ironside did not always approve of his methods as Mason sometimes skirted close to crossing the line between legal and illegal but never quite went over. He had deductive abilities that were rare in an attorney. Ironside knew he was assisted by the Drake Detective Agency in his investigations. Even though he had Paul Drake's agency at his fingertips he was able to solve cases himself and force dramatic courtroom confessions. His courtroom antics were legendary. He was the standard that all criminal trial attorneys strived to reach. Jim Whitmore was playing hardball by hiring this very clever and capable man.

"Miss Street, my staff and I would like very much for you and Mr. Mason to join us for dinner and then he and I can have that talk. Is that agreeable with you?"

Della smiled. "Of course, I know I speak for Mr. Mason when I say we would love to join you for dinner. Thank you, Chief Ironside."

Ironside raised his voice, "Mark, we will be having two guests for dinner."

Della immediately corrected her host, "Chief Ironside, Paul Drake is with us. If it is ok with you he will be joining us."

"Make that three guests, Mark. And Mark, don't forget we have to feed Reese too."

4.3

Paul Drake approached the Evidence Room. Behind the counter was a policeman in his early sixties. "Excuse me," Paul said to him. I was wondering if you can help me."

"What can I do for you?"

Paul pulled out his private detective badge and showed it to the clerk. "I am trying to find out about evidence that disappeared from here in two different instances. One happened about a year ago and the other was four months ago. Both times the evidence was being held against Scott Whitmore. It was heroin and the arresting officer was Lt. Martin."

"Oh yes, I remember that well. I was on duty both times when Lt. Martin checked in the evidence. There was quite a ruckus afterwards when the evidence came up missing."

Paul looked up and noticed there was a camera above the clerk's counter. "I see you have cameras. How could the evidence leave the premises without catching it on tape?"

"There was a system failure. The cameras did not work."

"Both times?" Paul asked incredulously.

The clerk shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid so."

"Where were you at the time?" Paul asked.

The clerk became defensive. "A man has to take a leak. Now if you will excuse me I have work to do," he told Drake dismissing him.

4.4

Perry Mason entered the room Scott Whitmore was being held in. He set his briefcase on the table and put out his hand. "Mr. Whitmore, my name is Perry Mason. Your father asked me to see you. I am an attorney."

"Yes, Mr. Mason. My father told me he was going to hire you." The young man sat down and looked down at the table. "Mr. Mason, I'm scared. You have got to believe me, I did not kill anyone. I couldn't...I wouldn't."

Mason studied the young man. He was about twenty five years old. He had sandy blond hair, and green eyes. Mason noted Whitmore was very nervous. He had tears in his eyes.

"Alright Scott, tell me what you were doing at the warehouse."

"My father owns the warehouse Mr. Mason. I have been having a hard time holding a job. It's my own fault really. I got into drugs for a while and I know I was undependable. I would have fired me. Anyway about a year ago this man called me and asked me if I would like to make some money on a regular basis. I was getting tired of crawling to my father for money to live on so I asked him what I had to do for the money. He told me all I had to do was allow his company to occasionally store containers in one of my father's warehouses and make sure nobody went near them. I was desperate Mr. Mason, so I took the job. I chose that particular warehouse because it is never used. I don't know why but it isn't. So when this man wanted to store his containers, he would call my cell phone and I would meet the truck there, unlock the warehouse, allow them to load them in and lock it again. Then when he wanted them he would call me again and I would let them in to take them out the containers. I was there because I got a call from the man who told me to report to the warehouse so they could get some containers out. When I got there I found that police lieutenant lying on the floor. I have never seen a dead person, Mr. Mason, at least not one that was shot. I panicked. I was worried that I had gotten myself into so bad trouble. Then someone came up behind me and clobbered me with something. I was out for I don't know how long but when I woke up the containers were gone. So I just ran out of there."

"What's the name of the man that hired you?" Mason asked him.

"I don't know. I never saw him. I only talked to him on the phone."

"How were you paid and how much?" Mason asked.

"I was paid by the load, ten thousand dollars each time. There were a total of five loads. Each time the drivers gave me an envelope with the money," Scott told him.

"Did it ever occur to you that what they were doing was illegal?" Mason asked.

"Mr. Mason, I am not going to lie to you. Of course it occurred to me. In fact I was pretty sure of it but the money was so good. I was only going to do it long enough to pay my way through school. I wanted to show my old man I could do it on my own. I wanted to become something without his help. I am tired of him telling me I am no good. I just wanted to show him."

Mason got up and started pacing. "Did you know the drivers that brought in and picked up the containers?"

"No, they were different every time."

"Did you know what was in those containers?"

"No Mr. Mason, I did not want to know."

"Ok, Scott. I will be in touch with you." Mason got up and started to leave.

"Does this mean that you will help me?" Scott asked.

"Yes, Scott. I will defend you. Remember if you are asked anything you tell them to talk to me. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir and thank you Mr. Mason."

Mason left and headed down the hall when he saw Paul Drake was headed his way. "Well Perry. What's the deal?"

"We are taking the case. That kid did not kill anyone. Looks to me like he was lured there to be framed for Martin's murder. He got himself into a mess alright but he is not guilty of murder. Have you heard from Della?"

Paul grinned. "Sure have. She called me because she did not want to disturb your interview with Whitmore. We are having dinner with Chief Robert T. Ironside."

"That's my girl. I knew she could pull it off."

Paul shook his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well everyone keeps telling me Ironside is just a carbon copy of me only older. Well if that is the case I knew he could not resist her," Perry stated.

"Now how could you possibly know that?"

"I know Ironside could not resist her because...I can't either," Mason's face was an ear-to-ear grin.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 05 – Perry Mason Meets Robert T. Ironside

5.1

"What did you find out about the missing heroin?" Perry inquired.

"I found out enough to tell you that it stinks to high heaven. The evidence room is covered by cameras," Paul told him.

Perry stopped walking and turned to Paul. "Cameras," he repeated. "Then explain to me how the heroin could come up missing without getting the culprit on film."

"An equipment malfunction," Paul said not very convincingly.

"Both instances?"

"You got it, pal," Paul said.

"With a bit of help no doubt," Perry frowned. "This really bothers me. We need to find out how it got removed from the evidence room and if David Martin was anywhere near there when it came up missing. Did you question the police officer that checked it in?"

"I lucked out there. The same officer that was there tonight was on duty both times the heroin disappeared. He claimed to have gone to the bathroom."

"Both times? A little convenient, don't you think?" Perry started walking again toward the elevator.

Paul shook his head while a slight smile appeared on his face. "We better get going, pal. We are expected for dinner."

Perry and Paul arrived at the elevator that would carry them to the attic residence of Chief Ironside. When they got off the elevator they spotted a ramp that led to an office door. As they came closer they could see Ironside's name on the door. Paul knocked.

Carl Reese was the closest to the ramp that lead up to the door. He went up it, opened the door then said, "Come in gentlemen, Chief Ironside is expecting you."

Walking with Reese, Perry and Paul approached the others. Paul stood back as Perry approached Ironside. Ed and Mark looked at each other in amazement. Eve, who was standing directly behind Chief Ironside stared at Mason with an open mouth. The shock was visible on all of their faces. Carl was the only one of Ironside's staff who did not react. He smiled as he watched the others.

Robert Ironside displayed his normal "poker" face. Perry walked up to him and offered his hand, "Chief Ironside, it is a pleasure to meet you." Ironside felt like he was listening to a recording of his own voice but gave no indication he had noticed.

Ironside shook his hand with an equally large hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mason."

Perry introduced Paul Drake. "Mr. Drake runs the Drake Detective Agency in Los Angeles". Paul stepped forward to shake hands with the Chief. "He is under my employ at the moment," Perry offered. Ironside followed suit by introducing his staff to the two men.

Della moved to Perry's side. Ironside took note of the look she and Mason gave each other and then said, "Mark has informed me that dinner is ready. Shall we be seated?"

Perry held a chair out for Della and took a seat beside her. Paul sat down on her other side. Ironside was flanked by Ed and Eve. Mark had cooked steaks for everyone, baked potatoes with sour cream, butter and chives. He added asparagus as the vegetable. One by one he placed a plate in front of each person at the table. He went to the kitchen, brought back a bottle of bourbon and poured into each of their glasses.

As soon as Chief Ironside started cutting his steak everyone followed suit. "I take it, Mr. Mason, you have decided to represent Mr. Whitmore."

"Yes, Chief. After having spoken with him I am convinced he is not guilty of the crime he has been charged with."

Ironside looked at Mason. This man had not yet been wrong one single time regarding the innocence of a client. What did Whitmore tell him that convinced him he was not guilty of murder and were his instincts correct again? The evidence was overwhelming but Ironside had been bothered that it was all too cut and dry. What if Mason was right? Was he suggesting his client was set up? Ironside redirected his attention on the conversation.

Ed looked at Mason and asked him, "Have you seen the evidence we have against him? We have a witness that puts him at the scene and a police artist sketch from the witness. The murder weapon has his prints on the gun. We found fifty thousand dollars in his house as well as heroin. We also found Dave Martin's badge at his house and it has been confirmed that his prints are on it." What makes you think he did not do it?"

Ironside watched Mason. His face gave away nothing. If he was concerned about the evidence he certainly did not show it. This was the courtroom face Mason maintained to keep the District attorney from knowing how evidence and witnesses affected him. They simply could not get a read on him. Ironside could see why.

Mason looked at Sgt. Brown and said, "I was given a rundown on the evidence while downstairs. We have only begun our investigation with this case, Sergeant. There are things already about this case that do not add up. My gut instinct tells me that there is more to this than meets the eye. For instance I had Mr. Drake check something that came to my attention while in Los Angeles. Mr. Whitmore was arrested for possession of heroin twice in the past year. The arresting officer was in both cases Lt. David Martin. Your evidence room is completely covered by cameras, yet the heroin came up missing and the charges were dropped. Your cameras malfunctioned in both cases allowing the heroin to be removed without the culprit being caught on camera. I have a theory why that happened which I am not ready to share at this time. From what my client has told me, I believe it is very possible he has been set up"

Ironside looked at Mason. _What does he know that we do not_, Ironside thought.

Mason was watching Ironside closely. He maintained his poker face but Mason was sure he had seen a slight reaction in his eyes when he had mention the heroin had disappeared while being covered by cameras. He was pretty sure this came as news to Ironside but could not be positive. He was extremely hard to read and Mason's plan for defending Whitmore included the help of this man. He had a reputation for being tough and when necessary unyielding. Mason could see that the reputation was well deserved.

Carl offered, "There was an investigation done in both of those instances. Nothing was found that indicated that it was anything other than exactly what was reported, the equipment failed."

"Tell me Lieutenant," Della asked, "had there been this type of equipment failure before or since?"

Reese looked at Della. _This woman is no ordinary secretary_, he thought. "No Miss Street, I cannot say there has been any equipment failure in at least the past five years."

Drake leaned forward. "You don't find that a bit strange?"

Eve added, "Equipment does sometime fail, Mr. Drake. It could be a simple coincidence. Besides Lt. Martin would not have arrested Whitmore in the first place if he did not want him charged with possession of heroin."

"We are not implying David Martin had anything to do with it," Mason maintained. "Someone did not want Whitmore in jail. Someone might have been worried about what he might reveal if he were faced with a prison term."

The evening continued with back and forth conversation between Ironside's staff and the defense team. Robert Ironside listened and watched intently but did not offer anything.

As dinner came to a conclusion Mason was not much further in determining which course he should take with Ironside. He had sat at that table without saying much of anything at all. He allowed his staff to carry the conversation and did not give away his thoughts regarding the entire affair.

Finally Chief Ironside said, "Mr. Mason is right, this investigation has only begun. And you all need clear heads and proper rest to do your jobs right. So shall we call it an evening?"

"Chief, I wonder if I might have a private word with you?" Mason made a decision to go for broke.

"Alright," Ironside said quietly. Ironside turned to his staff. "Take the rest of the night off. Be here at nine o'clock tomorrow. Promptly…did you hear that Sgt. Brown?" Eve smiled as Ed winced. The chief sure knew how to push Ed's buttons.

Mark began clearing the table. "Mark, when you get done clearing the table, let the dishes go until morning. I won't need you until I am ready to retire." Mark nodded in acknowledgement.

Perry turned to Della and Paul. "Take the rental car. I will get a cab and meet you back at the hotel. Don't wait up for me. We will meet at seven o'clock for some breakfast and talk over what we are going to do next."

"Perry, I am going to check with the guys back in LA to see if they have come up with anything new. I think I will have some more operatives sent here."

"Hold off on that Paul. If I am successful we won't need them." As Paul walked away, Perry looked in Della's eyes. "Don't you wait up for me either, Della. Get some rest, I'll see you in the morning."

"Ok, Chief. Don't stay out too late. We are going to have to be up early in the morning. You need rest as well." She smiled, moved closer to him so that when she squeezed his hand it was concealed between them. With that Della and Paul thanked Ironside for his hospitality and headed for the door.

Mark had finished clearing the table and went into his room and closed his door.

Chief Ironside wheeled his chair into the kitchen, reached in the cupboard, brought out two glasses and placed a bottle of bourbon in the side of his wheelchair and rolled back to Perry Mason who was looking out the window. "How about a nightcap, Mr. Mason?"

"Thanks Chief, don't mind if I do. Please call me Perry."

"Alright, you can drop the formalities as well. Now what can I do for you?"

"First of all I could not help but observe a few things tonight. You did not say much. You sat back and let your subordinates carry the conversation while you took it all in. It is obvious to me that every one of those people has the greatest respect for you and is completely loyal to you and you trust them explicitly. You had Sgt. Brown lay out the charges against my client to draw a reaction out of me. It bothered you when I told you about the missing heroin. It was the slight change in the look in your eye. I doubt if anyone else noticed it…well except for Della. She has seen that same change in another pair of blue eyes."

Ironside smiled. "When your secretary told me you wanted to see me I decided to reveal nothing to you. Basically you came here to size me up. For what, I do not know. And you are right. I pulled Sgt. Brown aside and had him quote the charges. If it will make you feel better you revealed nothing in your expression that would have told me you knew something I did not or that you were worried about the situation your client is in. I knew you brought up the missing heroin to extract a reaction from me and apparently it did, although I doubt anyone that did not have your power of observation would have picked up on it. Oh, and one final thing, Miss Street is more than just your secretary." Ironside watched for Mason's reaction.

Silent for a moment Mason started to laugh. "May I ask what you base that deduction on?"

Ironside issued Mason one of those boyish grins that both men were well known for. "You may be able to put on that courtroom face and hide your intentions in your eyes when dealing with business, counselor but your eyes betray you when it comes to Miss Street. Oh, I caught the hand squeeze before Miss Street left with Mr. Drake."

Perry could tell that Ironside was very pleased with himself, believing he had one upped Mason in their little battle of wits. This guy was good!

"Are you going to tell me what this conversation is all about, Perry or am I going to have to guess?" Ironside asked with amusement dancing in his blue eyes.

_Well here goes_, thought Mason. "Chief, do you play poker?"

"Yes, of course. I collect quite a bit of money from Ed, Eve, and Mark, who incidentally are lousy poker players,' he said with a nod of his head.

"Do you want to play one hand?"

"What are the stakes?" Ironside asked.

"Winner takes all. You win, I have to do something for you on this case. I win, you have to do the same for me," Perry said as he watched Ironside for a reaction.

"I don't need anything from you when it comes to this case. I have a top notch staff and an entire police force at my disposal," Ironside said.

"I am well aware of that, Chief but everyone in the SFPD wants someone punished for the murder of your lieutenant. You want that too but on the other hand you want the truth. You see, Chief, that is where you and I are alike. When I take a case I do it because I believe my client is innocent. I am all that stands between him and a murder conviction. I have the greatest respect for the police. They are essential in our society. But too often police stop at the obvious because they want someone punished. I on the other hand do not have that luxury. I must dig further and find the explanation for the obvious. My job is to tear apart the prosecution's case and provide a reasonable doubt. To me that has never been enough because I want the culprit punished as much as you do. So I set about to replace my innocent client with the guilty one."

Mason continued, "When I was talking with Della, she said Robert Ironside is not going to bow to pressure to hang an innocent man if he doubts his guilt. My client is innocent, Chief. I am willing to sit down with you and your staff with the information I have. I am also willing to let you question my client to your heart's content until you are satisfied that someone else could have killed your detective."

"And what is it you want from me?" Ironside asked.

"A collaboration of efforts between you and me and our staffs," Mason said. _Well here it was, the whole ball of wax_, Mason thought.

There was not a flinch in Ironside's demeanor. He sat quietly for the longest time. He stared into Mason's deep blue eyes, the same eyes he saw every morning in the mirror and finally rolled his wheelchair over to the desk, opened the drawer and pulled out a deck of cards. He wheeled back to the table, pitched the cards at Perry Mason and said, "Deal, counselor."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Doing the Right Thing

"Mark!" yelled Ironside. The light came on in Mark's room. Moments later he joined the Chief at the window where he sat starring out at the city he loved.

"Are you ready to go to bed, Chief," Mark asked his boss.

"Not yet, Mark. Have a seat would you please?" Ironside continued to stare out the window.

"Chief it's 2:30 in the morning. Don't you think you should get some rest?" Mark knew it was useless to try to get the Chief to retire when he was in one of these moods. He always did this when something was bothering him. When Ironside turned and looked up at him, Mark knew that look. "Ok Chief, let me get a chair" Mark walked over to the table and brought back a chair. He sat down and said, "I'm all ears."

Still his boss continued to stare out the window.

"Chief is this about your conversation with Perry Mason?"

"In part Mark. He asked me to join forces with him to investigate the murder of David Martin. He wants me to dig further than the current evidence and find, and I quote, the real killer to help clear his client." Ironside turned and looked at his aide.

"Chief, you can't do that. Commissioner Randall and the entire city council will be screaming at the top of their lungs. You build the cases against accused murders, not help clear them. What exactly is Mason trying to pull? If the newspapers got hold of this it would be front page headlines."

"I know that Mark. There are already several things bothering me about this case. First of all the missing evidence which caused the charges to be dropped against Whitmore, I don't believe in coincidences. Something is very wrong there. One equipment failure I might buy but two that remove the evidence against the same man? The same policeman is on duty both times it happens? No, Mark. Someone deliberately removed that evidence. Someone did not want Whitmore sitting in jail where the police had access to him."

"Secondly Mason told me Whitmore was being paid to store containers in one of his father's warehouses. He never saw the man. He took all his orders by phone. He would receive a call, show up and allow the container to brought in or taken out. The drivers were different every time. He claims he received a call that night to go to the warehouse. When he got there he said Martin was already dead on the floor. He doesn't remember seeing any weapon near the body. He was hit from behind and knocked out. When he woke up he said he panicked and ran out but thinks he remembers seeing a gun by the body. He claims he did not touch it."

"I checked down stairs and Whitmore was indeed treated for a bleeding wound to the back of his head. Also I read the lab and ballistic reports. The gun was the murder weapon and the bullets matched the gun. What bothers me is the prints were from Whitmore's right hand."

Mark shrugged, "So?"

"Perry Mason told me that while he was riding up the elevator here to dinner he called Jim Whitmore. Scott Whitmore is left handed," Ironside said.

"Then you think the gun might have been placed in Whitmore's hand to plant his prints on it? It could be possible that he can shoot a gun from either hand, Chief."

"Of course Mark. But consider this. If you were holding a man at gun point in a life and death situation where you had little time to think, what hand would you naturally use?" Ironside asked him.

"I think I would use the hand I normally use. Since I am right handed I would automatically use that hand without thinking," Mark observed.

"Exactly my point," Ironside said. I had Eve contact Lt. Tragg of homicide in Los Angeles. He sent Martin's entire file with his department. Martin made an arrest of a man by the name of Donald Griffith. He testified against him in court. Griffith was arrested for the murder of a cop whom he shot in a narcotics raid. Griffith had a large amount of heroin in containers."

"Then you think the two cases are related?," Mark asked his boss.

Ironside frowned and pointed out, "They both have one common denominator.

"Lt. David Martin," Mark said.

Perry arrived back at the motel shortly after midnight. He paid the cab and entered the hotel. He took the elevator to the 5th floor and stopped at Della's room. Mason listened intently at the door. Silence….good Della had done as he asked and went to bed. He continued on to the door of his adjoining room, unlocked it and went in.

Setting down his brief case, he removed his jacket and tie. He sat down in the chair next to the adjoining door and put his feet up on the foot stool. Things had gone well. Ironside is a good man Perry thought. Della was right, the truth was more important to him then getting a conviction on a man he was not sure was guilty.

Perry rubbed his eyes and put his head back. Suddenly he felt the touch of soft fingers massaging his temples. "Well, how did it go counselor?" Della asked him. He had not even heard her come in.

Perry smiled, "You are suppose to be sleeping Miss Street.

Della came around the chair and sat down gently into Mason's lap. I was until I heard you come in. You look tired, Perry."

"I guess I am, he said as she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"So are you going to tell me Chief? Were you able to convince Chief Ironside to dig beneath the surface."

"Better than that, Della. I convince him to join forces with us in investigating this case," Perry grinned.

Shock appeared on Della face. "Are you telling me he is going to work against the prosecution?"

"No, Ironside would not do that. He wants the truth and I convinced him that I do too. We are going to meet at his office tomorrow with his staff and plan strategy in the morning to decide how best to use all personnel involved. He thinks we should bring in Lt Tragg to help us as well. He figures no one understood David Martin better. He feels he might shed some light on exactly what David Martin was investigating. I am going to call him in the morning. I have to handle him with kid gloves. Paul told me how he felt about me defending Whitmore. I have to convince him Whitmore is not guilty before he will ever agree to help us. Bob said to just to get him to his office and he will help in doing so."

Della's ears perked up. "Bob? You have gone from calling him Chief Ironside to Bob? Maybe Chief Ironside doesn't deserve that tough reputation after all. What on earth did you do to soften him up?" Della asked with amusement.

"Oh, it wasn't me. I sent in my secret weapon to soften him up before I arrived," Perry grinned. Then his voice took a serious tone. "The man has a face like a rock. You know that mind of his is assessing every word said but his face gives nothing away. I have never met anyone so hard to read. By dinners end Della, I was no closer to knowing how to approach him then when I walked through the door. His power of observation is very acute. He was not sure why I was there but he knew I was there to…as he put it size him up. I did not put anything over on the man. On the other hand he admitted he could not read me very well either. He called it my courtroom face. Oh and Della he knows about us."

Della looked at Mason with surprise. "But how? We were completely professional in his presence"

"He read it in our eyes and despite your using our bodies to obscure squeezing my hand it did not get past him."

"Chief, I am so sorry. Our hands were out of sight. I would not have done so if I thought anyone would notice" Della said.

Perry smiled. "It's alright, Della. I think our secret is safe with Ironside."

Della ran her finger down Mason's dimple in his jaw. "So how did you approach him."

"I challenged him to a hand of poker," Mason chuckled.

"You what?

"Poker, Della…winner take all. If he won I had to share something with him. I offered to give him what I knew as well as let him question my client for as long as he wanted."

"Perry, you didn't! Della gasped. And if you won?" Della asked.

"He would join forces with me to find the truth," Mason told her.

"Then you beat the famous Robert T. Ironside," Della said with a look of pride on her face.

"I didn't say that, Della," Perry said. "Let's just say we both won."

"Objection, Counselor that answer is not responsive. Answer the question. Did you beat Ironside?"

Perry had developed that glint in his blue eyes. "Yes…..and no"

"Chief, you are impossible," Della rolled her eyes in frustration.

Perry put his head back and laughed. "I think we better get some sleep. We have to meet Paul in the morning and brief him on what we are about to undertake.

"Perry," Della said quietly. "I sure hope you know what you are doing."

Perry looked into her concerned eyes. "I trust Ironside, Della. It will work, you will see." Perry put his hand behind her neck, tenderly pulled her to him and kissed her.

Perry and Della rode down the elevator to meet Paul Drake for breakfast. As the elevator door opened a man sitting in the lobby lounge area got up and started walking towards them. "Mason, I want to talk to you, "Councilman David Martin Sr. shouted at him.

"Della, please go join Paul. I will be with both of you shortly."

As Della walked away from Perry, Councilman Martin stood in front of him, the anger very apparent. "How could you? What the hell are you thinking."

In a soft calming voice Perry said to his friend's father, "Dave, let's step outside."

Martin followed him out the door and when they were no longer in ear shot of anyone Martin continue, "You went to school with my boy. You were his friend. All I ever heard was Perry this and Perry that. Damn it Mason he idolized you. Martin was shaking with anger. How could you? How can you defend his murderer?"

"Dave, listen to me. I was shocked to hear of David's death. I saw him at the police station quite often and we got together occasionally when both our schedules allowed. Don't you think I want his murderer caught as much as you do?" Mason asked him.

"Then why the hell are you representing his killer then?" he shouted, visibly shaking with anger.

"First of all Dave, a man is innocent until proven guilty. It has not been proven he killed David. I have spoken to this kid, Dave. I am convinced he did not kill anyone."

"What are you talking about I have been briefed on the evidence. It's an open and shut case and not even the great Perry Mason is going to win this case. Do you know who the commissioner has assigned this one to, Mason? Robert T. Ironside, that's who. Do you know who he is? Well I'll educate you Mr. big shot lawyer. He's the best there is. He has the highest rate of convictions through his investigations than any cop in this city. When he puts them away they stay away. You may be good but you don't stand a chance against Ironside."

Mason wondered if his opinion of Chief Ironside would hold up if he knew what he and Ironside had planned. "I have no problem with Ironside on this case. In fact I welcome it. He has a reputation for getting to the truth."

"Look Dave, I have to defend Whitmore. He's not guilty no matter how it may look on the surface. I understand you being upset with me but believe me when I tell you I truly believe Whitmore is innocent and I have to stop an injustice of a murder conviction."

"For god's sake, Perry, please don't do this," Martin pleaded."

"I am sorry Dave, I have no choice. My client is innocent and I have an obligation to prove it," Mason said softly.

Martin looked Mason in the eye. "I don't ever want to hear from you again." With that he turned on his heals and left Perry standing there.

Perry walked into the dining room. He spotted Della and Paul and headed to their table. Della was watching him closely. "It did not go well did it, Chief?

Paul looked between Della and Perry. What did not go well?"

Della turned her attention to Paul and said, "When we came out of the elevator David Martin's father was waiting for Perry."

"Oh boy," Paul exclaimed. What happened?"

Perry looked at his Paul and Della and quietly replied. "How do you explain to a friend why you are going to defend the man whom he believes killed his son? There are no words in the English language that will make him understand at a time like this."

"That bad, huh? Paul said. "Perry I am sorry."

Della placed her hand over Perry's larger one. She did not say a word but she hoped it would help ease the pain Perry was feeling.

Perry looked up and said, "We better order. We have to be in Ironside's office at 9:00." He waved the waitress over and the trio ordered. Shorty afterwards bacon & eggs arrived at the table.

"Perry, Della says you talked Ironside into working with us. How in the world did you manage that? Paul asked.

Della chucked and answered for her boss. "Perry challenged Ironside to a hand of poker!"

Paul looked at his friends with a look of confusion on his face. "He what?"

Perry and Della exchanged looks and busted out laughing.

Perry then explained the plan he worked out with Ironside. "We are meeting him at 9:00 at his office where we will work out the details with him and his staff."

Paul shook his head. "Perry, I don't like this. I think you are getting in way over your head on this one. Even if Ironside keeps his end of the deal, what if the prosecuting attorney gets wind of this and decides to call Ironside as a witness? He would be forced to spill everything you have told him. Look, let's investigate this on our own. I'll bring more men in. We will find out what is going on but leave Ironside out of it." Paul insisted with concern for his friend.

"Look Paul I know very well the chances I am taking here but I strongly believe this is the best way to go on this case. Ironside WILL hold up his end and both of us are going to find a way to keep this unusual joint effort quiet," Perry said trying to ease Paul's concerns. "Besides there is no turning back now. I have already spilled as you put it plenty to him already."

"Perry, he's a COP! His job is to find the evidence to convict this guy. How do you know he isn't just using you? He can help the prosecuting attorney with the information he has collected from you."

"Paul, do I need to remind you how many times Lt. Tragg has helped us, even after he testified against our clients. He did it because even though he too often stops at the obvious he is an honest cop who willing to listen if you can provide him with enough evidence to make him question things as they stand. How do you think I got Ironside to work with us. He's the same kind of cop, with better deductive reasoning and power of observation. He's a bulldog with a bone. He doesn't let it go. Paul, he finds the truth. He knows the city and he knows the criminal element here as well as having a top notch staff and an entire police force at his disposal, his words not mine."

Paul sat in silence. "Perry this doesn't have something to do with proving who is the better man does it? He looks like you. He sounds like you. He's a famous detective. You're a famous lawyer. He's knows how to solve a case. You know how to win one. He has the respect of the police. You have the respect of the legal world. Everyone is talking like this is a grudge match, a battle of the egos. Hell, Perry, I even witnessed cops in the hall at the police station betting on who would come out on top, you or Ironside."

Perry knew his friend was trying to help so he tried to contain his rising anger at the comment Paul just made. "Paul, I would think by now you would know me better than that. This is not a competition with Ironside. This is his city and the man is brilliant. I want the resources he can provide me. I appealed to his sense of justice and it worked. We are going to be dealing with a lot of political pressure here. Ironside could help us solve this before it is brought to trail

Perry smirked, "Bets are being taken at a police station….full of cops? Would you like to bet the odds are against me?"

"Perry, I am serious. I'm your friend and I have to tell you I think this is a mistake."

"Della," said Mason. "Do you feel as Paul does," Mason asked.

"I will admit this whole situation makes me extremely uneasy. You have done a lot of unconventional things but this got to be right up there. Having said that if your convictions and gut instincts tell you this is the direction you must take then I trust you. I will support your decision." Della looked into Perry's eyes searching for any doubt he might have with what he had planned. There was none.

"Paul, if you feel so strongly about this I will not hold you to helping with the investigation. I will understand if you want out." There, Perry thought I have given my friend an out if he needs it."

"No way, pal! We are in this together like we always are. I am with you all the way even if I don't agree." To lighten the moment Paul added, "besides I would like to get to know that little blond number that is working in Ironside's office."

Perry and Della laughed then Perry said, "Careful, Paul. You could get yourself into a lot of trouble. That little blond number as you call her just might belong to Ironside!"

"I'll take my chances. I have a pretty good lawyer," Paul grinned.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Planning Strategy

7.1

Prosecuting Attorney, John Richards, sat at his desk. He had just received a phone call from one of the cops on duty who informed him Perry Mason, Paul Drake and Della Street had gone up to see Robert Ironside and were with him for at least two hours. What bothered him was Mason had not been seen leaving with Street and Drake. What was Mason up to?

Richards knew Commissioner Randall bowed to city council pressure and ordered Ironside to start an investigation. He also knew Ironside would investigate the case his way. Richards had his own team of investigators working on this but worried Ironside might interfere with his case against Martin. He wanted this one. This was the case every prosecuting attorney dreamed about. The son of a city council member murdered and the son of a senatorial candidate accused of the murder. It was the stuff careers were born from. He did not want anyone messing this one up for him. He wanted a conviction. It was going to be very high profile.

Richards had ambitions, political ambitions. He did not intend to do this job forever. He wanted a career as a Senator and possibly a White House run. Yes, Ironside could present a problem. But he was not his only problem. Maybe there was a man who could help him with one of those problems.

He looked in his Blackberry for a number and dialed it on his office phone. After a secretary greeted him announcing Hamilton Burger's office he said, "This is John Richards, the Prosecuting Attorney for the city of San Francisco. I would like to speak to Hamilton Burger please."

"One moment sir, I will see if he is in," the voice told him. Richards waited a few minutes and then heard, "Mr. Burger will speak with you now. One moment and I will put you through."

"This is Hamilton Burger. How may I help you Mr. Richards?"

"Mr. Burger, I wanted to talk to you about Perry Mason," Richards informed him.

Burger smiled. He felt sorry for Richards but he would rather have Mason being a thorn in Richards' side than his. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about Mason." Richards waited for Burger's reply.

"What exactly is it that you want to know?" Hamilton asked him."

"To be honest I cannot really tell you. I only know his reputation, that he has never lost a case. I guess I am just looking to you for some help in how to deal with him in court."

Burger cringed. He had an outstanding record as a prosecuting attorney…except when it came to prosecuting cases where Perry Mason was the defense attorney. Why were those the only cases people asked him about? "Mr. Mason is an extremely capable defense attorney. Do not underestimate him. If you do, he can easily make you look like a fool in court. He works with the Drake Detective agency here in Los Angeles. Paul Drake runs it. He is probably the best private detective in this area. Don't think for a minute Mr. Mason is letting Mr. Drake do all the investigating either. Mr. Mason will be right smack in the middle of everything. He always is. And watch out for his dramatic flair in the courtroom. His courtroom antics can be a major problem. He has destroyed many a case of mine with them."

Richards thought for a moment and then said, "Is there any chance I can get you to come to San Francisco and assist me on this one? It is an open-and-shut case. We should wrap it up in a hurry. I would feel better if I had you here to keep an eye on Mason and give me a heads up on if he is trying anything,"

Hamilton Burger shook his head and then warned Richards, "There is no such thing as an open-and-shut case when Perry Mason is involved. I quit saying that long ago after watching him tear my open-and-shut cases to smithereens time and again. I am sorry but no, I am unable to help you but good luck. And I cannot stress enough, do not underestimate Mason. He is a very worthy adversary. His reputation is well earned." With that Hamilton hung up the phone.

Burger sat at his desk thinking about Mason and began to laugh. That young man has no idea who he is dealing with. Mason will have him for lunch. Hamilton smiled and thought, _Perry what are you up to this time?_ He could not resist, he had to find out. He picked up the phone and called Lt. Tragg.

7.2

Ed and Eve walked into the attic office at the same time. Robert Ironside sat in his usual place at the table surrounded by paperwork. He grinned and said, "Well, I see you have made it on time, Sgt. Brown."

Eve looked at Ed and smiled as if to say don't give him the chance to do it again. Ed just shook his head and did not fall for the bait. He felt a bit of satisfaction when he saw the look of disappointment on the chief's face.

Mark began setting coffee in front of everyone. It had become a morning ritual. Mark had never seen so many heavy coffee drinkers. If he thought the chief would not notice, he would change him to decaf. Maybe that would get him into bed earlier and Mark could get a decent night's sleep for a change. But no, it would not work. Nothing got past Chief Robert T. Ironside.

Carl Reese walked in the door. "You're late Lt. Reese," Ironside barked. Ed and Eve looked at each other and smiled.

"But Chief, I stopped downstairs to see if there was anything new to report," Carl protested.

"We were to start at eight today, SERGEANT Reese," Ironside boomed. "You received Mark's call to be here earlier today, did you not?" Ed and Eve could hardly contain themselves. Mark walked over to Reese, handed him a cup of coffee and said, "welcome aboard the Ironside express." He whispered, "you better learn not to give him any openings."

"Alright, now that we are all here we can get down to business. I had Mark call you in early because I wanted to inform you of a decision I have made regarding the Martin murder case." Ironside began.

Ed, Eve and Carl were all looking intently at their boss.

"I had a rather interesting conversation with Mr. Mason last night and I am convinced that this case has a lot of holes in it," Ironside told them.

"Chief, I don't understand. What holes? We have the murder weapon with Whitmore's prints on it. We have heroin in his apartment and cash of fifty thousand dollars found not to mention Martin's detective's badge again with Whitmore's prints all over it. The only hole I see is the one Whitmore has dug for himself," Carl offered.

"All of which is just a bit too tidy for my inquisitive mind," Ironside snapped. There seems to also be a major piece of evidence missing here."

"Motive," Ed Brown observed.

"Very good, Sergeant. I'll make a detective out of you yet," Ironside said with a slight smile on his face. Eve nudged Ed. "All of which we are going to discuss as soon as Perry Mason and Paul Drake arrive."

Eve, Ed, and Carl look at one another with disbelief and then back to the boss. Eve spoke up first. "Excuse me Chief, but do you really think it is a good idea to discuss this case with Mason? He's the attorney for the defendant. We certainly don't want to be helping him with his case."

"Not only are we going to discuss this case in front of him, but, we are going to help solve it. We will be working directly with him throughout this investigation." Ironside told her.

No one moved or said a thing. Chief Ironside turned his wheelchair towards his staff and said, "Whenever you people are speechless, you actually have plenty to say, so out with it," Ironside ordered.

Ed walked over to the table and sat down beside the man he respected more than any other. "Chief, you can't be serious. We can't work directly with the defense attorney. Can you imagine the screaming the city council would be doing? Commissioner Randall would be fit to be tied. He has to answer to them you know." Ed looked directly into the eyes of his boss.

"We would never be able to keep this quiet. Both you and Perry Mason are too high profile. The papers would be all over it," Eve pointed out.

Carl was standing on the left side of Chief Ironside. "I agree with the chief." He was reading reports and notes that were in both Ironside and Mason's handwriting.

Eve and Ed looked at Carl with shock. "You can't be serious?" Ed said to him.

Carl Reese sat down and picked up the papers he had been reading while the exchange between Ironside and his staff had been going on. He looked at the handwritten notes, then to the chief and then the others. "Five minutes ago I would have said the Chief had lost his mind. But what is in these notes say otherwise. Working together is an excellent idea. However, Chief, I think we should keep the rest of the department out of it as much as possible. We will have a better chance of keeping this quiet."

"What is in those?" Ed walked over and took the papers Carl was holding out of his hand. Ironside waited while his sergeant digested the information. When Ed was finished he handed them to Eve and looked at his boss. "What time is Mason due to arrive?" he asked Ironside.

"Nine o'clock," Ironside answered him.

Eve looked up. "We better call him and tell him to come up the back way and avoid being seen entering here." Ed immediately picked up a phone and said, "Do we have a cell number for him?"

Ironside handed him a piece of paper. Ed looked at it and began dialing.

"Mark," Ironside called out, "you better put on another pot of coffee."

7.3

Hamilton Burger had his secretary call Lt. Tragg's office. As he waited for the call to go through, his secretary came back on the line. "Mr. Burger I am sorry but you will not be able to talk to Lt. Tragg at this time. His secretary said he got a call from Chief Robert Ironside at about 1:00 in the morning asking him to come to San Francisco."

"Alright then put a call through to his cell phone," Burger instructed her. Moments later she came back on the line. "Mr. Burger, Lt. Tragg is on the line."

"Hello Hamilton. What can I do for you?" Tragg said.

"What are you doing in San Francisco?"

"I got a call from Robert Ironside late last night. In fact he woke me up. I have heard that man never sleeps. Anyway he asked me to collect everything I have on the Griffith case as well as every file Martin has worked on and bring it to San Francisco," Tragg told him. "He is going to be working with Perry on this case."

"What?! What in the hell is going on there?"

"He is convinced that Martin was not killed by Whitmore and he is going to be working with Perry to prove it," Tragg informed him.

"Why in the world would you want to help either of them clear the man who killed David Martin? I thought you were close to him." Hamilton could not believe what he was hearing.

"Because Ironside was quite convincing with what he presented to me. Listen Hamilton, I have to go. I am supposed to be in Ironside's office by nine. I know you were next on Ironside's list. He wants you to bring the court transcript of the Griffith case. Oh, one last thing. Perry is going to ask you to help with the defense team." Tragg hung up the phone. He smiled as he wished he could have seen the look on Burger's face when he dropped that bomb.

Completely shocked, Hamilton Burger hit the intercom to his secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Burger."

"Call the airlines and get me on the next flight to San Francisco. Make it an open-ended ticket and turn everything I am doing over to one of the assistant prosecutors." He hung up the phone and raced out of the office.

7.4

The phone rang at the officer's desk. "I thought I told you not to call me here," the officer said. He listened. "The only thing new is Perry Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake were with Ironside for about 2 hours last night." He continued to listen. "There is no way I can do that. This morning a lid was put on this case. No information is to be released to anyone but to Ironside or a member of his staff. It's like it has become top secret or something." He listened again before he said, "Alright, you don't have to threaten me, I will try to find it and destroy it. I'll call you when I've done it."

7.5

There was a knock on the door. Mark Sanger walked up the ramp, opened the door and said, "Come in, counselor. The coffee is on." Perry Mason escorted Della by the elbow as Paul Drake followed close behind.

"Come in, counselor," Ironside said in a raised voice. He nodded and smiled to Della, "Miss Street," and then to Paul, "Mr. Drake." They walked over and joined Ironside and his staff at the table. Della took a seat beside Perry. She set her tablet down on the table ready to take notes for her boss.

Just then another knock on the door was heard by all. "Get that, will you Mark?" Mark opened the door and let in Lt. Tragg.

As the Los Angeles homicide detective approached the table he looked into the face of Robert Ironside and then back to Perry Mason. "Will you look…at… this? Burger is going to have a heart attack when he finds out there are two of you, Perry."

Della and Paul could not help but laugh as Perry grinned. "Chief, this is Lt. Tragg of homicide in Los Angeles," Della said."

"Lieutenant, welcome and have a seat," Ironside said. He looked Perry in the eye. "I don't see any resemblance, do you Perry?"

"Not a bit, well except for one thing." Perry said. "I…"

Ironside interrupted him. "I am much better looking." Laughter broke out all over the room, especially Della who remembered a certain lawyer's response to her mentioning the resemblance.

Tragg took a seat and everyone looked to Ironside. He addressed Mason. "I decided to contact Lt. Tragg after you left last night. I thought I would be more successful in convincing him to join us here today."

"So Perry, I must admit I am quite surprised that Chief Ironside has not thrown you in jail yet. After all, you have been here nearly 24 hours." Tragg needled the LA attorney.

Ironside watched the playful exchange and noted these two might be on the opposite sides but they carried a healthy respect for one another.

"Mr. Mason and I met last night after all of you left here. After a lengthy discussion we have decided to join forces together in investigating this case. Everyone has read the ballistic and lab reports. So all know what the evidence is against Mr. Whitmore. Carl, pass those reports to Lt. Tragg. I briefed him but he probably would like to read them. Lieutenant, please take note that the fingerprints were those of Martin's right hand. Perry, take over here."

"Whitmore was left handed. You all know what this means. The Chief and I believe it is possible the gun was placed in his hand. Most people are right handed. Someone trying to frame him…"

"…would place the gun in his right hand for prints. Probably did the same with his badge. The killer would have no idea that he was left handed," Eve interrupted.

"Exactly," Mason said. Mason then reviewed what his client has told him, his relationship to his father, wanting the money for school. He told them about Whitmore being lured to the warehouse, finding the body, being knocked out, and running away. "Sgt. Brown will cover the investigation of the warehouse."

Brown continued the meeting "A search of the area did not turn up much. None of the containers Whitmore spoke of were found at the scene. Just the gun beside the body and a napkin from a bar called Ted's located up town. When Whitmore ran out of the warehouse, the night watchman saw him and I called in a sketch artist. That sketch led us to Whitmore's apartment and the heroin and money were found." He asked Mason if he knew what the container looked like."

Mason indicated he only did a short interview with his client to determine whether or not he would take the case. He would be speaking further with Whitmore today. He was being arraigned this afternoon.

Ironside asked Carl to go over the missing evidence and explain about the malfunctioning cameras. He reported on the cases Martin was working on at the time of the murder. When he finished, Lt. Tragg took over going over David Martin's record in Los Angeles and the Griffith trial. Upon completing his narrative everyone became quite lost in their own thoughts.

Mark came out of the kitchen and filled everyone's coffee cups. "At the rate you people are drinking this stuff we better start growing coffee beans."

Ironside started ruffling through the papers in front of him. Mason realized what he was looking for. Ironside said, "there is a report missing." They looked at one another. "Chief, I don't remember reading anywhere whether Whitmore was tested…"

"…for residue on his hands that would show whether or not he had fired a gun," Ironside finished for him. "Ed, I am assuming you ordered one so get on the phone and find out where the flaming hell it is."

Ed was on his feet before the Chief finished and on the phone at the desk. Everyone listened to Ed's side of the conversation. He returned to the table.

"Well," Ironside bellowed.

"The report came up missing." Ed told them.

"Missing?" Eve could not believe it.

Perry stood up. "Missing heroin, missing reports…Bob, someone in your police department has got to be responsible for this. You have a dirty cop. If we find him we might be able to find some answers."

The rage in Ironside was beginning to rise. There was nothing he hated more than a cop who broke the trust the city bestowed on him. He suspected it with the missing heroin but now there could not be much doubt. Della, seeing that familiar rising anger, stood up, walked over to Chief Ironside and placed a hand on his shoulder. Ironside calmed immediately. "Chief, one bad cop does not reflect on the whole department. You'll find him."

Perry smiled inwardly. His Della was an amazing woman. How many times had she calmed him when he needed it?

Ironside looked at Reese. "Carl, the missing evidence is yours. Find out where it is and who is responsible for it. I want that cop, understood?" Carl nodded.

Perry turned to Drake. "We need to know how the door of the warehouse got opened. Whitmore said it was open when he arrived. I want to know how many keys there were and who had them. We have to track down those trucks. Who owned them and who drove them.?"

"Eve, you work with Lt. Tragg. Find that connection between that case and this one," Ironside instructed. "Ed, you will help Paul. You two work out the details of how you will handle it and check that bar on the napkin."

Perry got up. "I have to go talk to my client. Chief, I promised you access to him. Do you want to come along?"

"Ironside nodded. "Alright everyone has a job to do. I want answers and I want them…"

"Yesterday," everyone finished for him.

Everyone headed out of the office except Mark. He looked around the room and smiled. "Peace at last."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 The Investigation Begins

8.1

Perry Mason wheeled Chief Ironside into the interrogation room. Della Street followed the two men into the room. Sitting behind the table, Scott Whitmore stood up as his attorney entered the room. His distrustful eyes followed Ironside as he wheeled himself up to the table. "Scott, this is Chief Robert T. Ironside of the San Francisco Police Department." He pointed at Della and said, "my confidential secretary, Miss Street. She will be taking notes. Chief Ironside is here to help. I would like you to answer his questions," Perry told the young man.

"No way, he's the fuzz! They are trying to hang me with a murder rap. I am not talking until he is out of the room," said the agitated client.

"Listen to me, Scott. Chief Ironside is not the enemy. He wants the truth. The more we can give him to go on the better the chance we can prove you innocent. You have known me for years, Scott. You are going to have to trust me on this," Mason coaxed his client.

"Mr. Whitmore, I am trying to get at the truth but I can't help you unless you help me," Ironside said quietly.

Scott Whitmore looked back and forth between his lawyer and the police detective that sat before him. Both men were known to him because of his father. He had always liked them but he was so scared he could barely think. Finally he decided to trust Mason. "Alright, but first can I ask a question?"

"Of course," Mason said.

"Are the two of you related? You sure look alike."

Ironside frowned but did not acknowledge the question. "Mr. Whitmore, I want you to tell me what happened that night."

"I already told Mr. Mason," Scott said.

"I would like you to tell me again, please." Ironside looked Whitmore directly in the eye.

Whitmore went through what he had told Mason the day before. Ironside listened without interrupting. He watched the young man's face intently. When Whitmore finished Ironside asked him. "Describe the containers for us."

"Well they were round, about three feet long, made out of metal. They had some kind of seal on them…brown in color. I don't remember much else about them. I did not touch them or really look that closely at them." Whitmore took a drink from a glass of water that had been placed on the table.

Mason stood up and began pacing. "Did those containers have any markings on them?" he inquired.

"Yes, but like I said I did not pay much attention to them."

Ironside asked, "Mr. Whitmore, it is very important we know what was on those containers. Think! Was it a label, wording? What did you see?"

"The only thing I can remember was there was a big "A" on the containers. I do not know what the rest of the letters were."

"Alright, what about the trucks?" Mason asked him.

"As near as I could tell they were not marked in any way. They were boxy, not as large as a pickup truck, though." Whitmore was watching Ironside with uncertainty.

"How many of them were there?" Ironside asked him.

"Just one each time with two drivers. I did not know any of them. I do remember the very last time containers were loaded, a man drove up in a big black car. It was too dark to see what kind it was and I am not good with recognizing models. He was very upset and insisted the drivers were supposed to deliver more containers than they did."

"Describe this man." Mason sat back down and looked at his client.

"It was dark inside. The lighting in that warehouse is terrible. The man was about six feet tall, medium build. I think he had gray hair. It was had to tell in the lighting," Whitmore told him.

Ironside turned his wheelchair away from Mason and Whitmore and asked, "Who had a key to that warehouse besides you?"

"My father would have one. The security guard would also have one. The one in my possession I have had for some time. I used to work for my father and I used that warehouse quite a bit. It is secluded so it was perfect for what I was allowing it to be used for. I do not know if there were any other keys."

Perry asked his client, "a napkin was found at the scene. It was from a bar called Ted's. Did you drop it at the scene?"

"No, sir. I have never been to that bar," Whitmore replied.

Ironside turned back to both men. He looked at Whitmore and asked, "How did Lt. Martin's badge get into your house?"

"Mr. Ironside, I don't have the faintest idea. Nor do I know how the heroin got there. Sir, I will admit I was buying and using heroin for some time, but if you check with the Neilson Clinic I went there and spent three months there getting off the stuff. I have not touched it since. That heroin was not mine. Someone must have put it there."

"There was no sign of forced entry into your house, Mr. Whitmore," Chief Ironside said.

"Chief, I don't know how it got there. If I did I would tell you. I did not kill your lieutenant, sir. I have done some stupid things in my life. The drugs and then getting involved with this mess top them but you have got to believe me I could not kill anyone." Whitmore looked at Ironside, his eyes pleading with the tough detective. "Please chief, can you help me?"

Della watched Ironside intently. The big, tough, gruff detective, who was so like Perry in appearance but so different in temperament was now showing another side that Della saw everyday in Perry. Chief Robert T. Ironside, although he would never admit it, had a soft spot for those in need.

Ironside sat quietly for the longest time without removing his eyes from Whitmore. Mason watched his new friend but this time he could read him completely. Whitmore had won Ironside. He believed him.

8.2

Hamilton Burger rented a car at the San Francisco airport and headed downtown to the police station. With him he carried the transcript of the Griffith murder trial. When he arrived at the station he stopped at the desk. He looked at the young police officer working there and said, "Can you tell me where Chief Ironside's office is, please?"

The officer pointed, "right behind you, take the elevator to the attic. The chief's office is the door with the ramp."

Burger turned to head to the elevator when he spotted Perry, Della and Ironside headed toward him. All of a sudden, out of nowhere reporters appeared. Cameras started clicking from every direction.

"Chief!" shouted one of them, "Rumor has it you met with Mr. Mason's client for over an hour. What's going on?"

Ironside frowned. He supposed he was going to have to deal with them sooner or later. He had been hoping it would be later. "I thought you boys were supposed to report facts, not rumors," Ironside growled.

"Come on, Chief, what are you and the defense attorney doing seeing his client together?" shouted another reporter.

"Trying to get to the truth as always," Ironside said.

"Mr. Mason, it doesn't look good for you client. How are you going to plead him? We see Jim Withmore did not waste any time bringing in a big shot lawyer to defend his son."

Mason smiled, "My client is looking forward to his day in court. No deals," Mason said.

"That's it boys. I'm in the middle of an investigation." Ironside turned his wheelchair around and headed for the elevator.

"Chief, you and Mason are looking awfully chummy, almost as if you were working together? Any comment?" asked yet another reporter.

Ironside continued wheeling toward the elevator with reporters shouting out questions. He lowered his voice and told Mason and Della to take the back way up.

Della and Perry headed for the back elevator when Hamilton Burger approached them. Surprise registered on their faces. "You could not have kept this quiet, Perry. They were bound to figure out you two are working together."

"Hello Hamilton, I did not think Chief Ironside had contacted you yet. Glad you are here though, I want to talk to you. Why don't you join us in Ironside's office?"

8.3

Lt. Tragg sat at Martin's desk going over narcotic cases Martin had been involved in. Officer Eve Whitfield sat on the opposite side of the desk doing the same. "So far Lieutenant, none of these cases are of any help," Eve said.

"Keep reading Eve. We'll find the connection," Tragg encouraged her. He put down the files he was reading and picked up the Griffith file. "This is interesting," Tragg said.

"What is?' Eve asked him.

"The heroin the narcotics squad caught Griffith with in the warehouse was in three feet long, round metal containers," Tragg noted.

Eve immediately started rifling through the different cases in front of her. Finally she put one in front of Lt. Tragg. Tragg raised an eyebrow. "Do we have a description of the containers that were at the warehouse where the murder took place?"

"No, I believe Mr. Mason and Chief Ironside were going to get that information when they saw Whitmore," Eve told him.

"Eve, go back and check every one of those files. Check to see if any of the heroin in any of the other cases was found in any kind of container."

8.4

Mark had lunch ready when Chief Ironside wheeled into the room. "Has anyone called in?" Ironside asked.

"Eve called in and said they thought they might have something but needed to check with you on some details. Lt. Tragg spotted something in the Los Angeles files. Other than that it has been a pleasant quiet morning."

The door burst open and Commissioner Dennis Randall walked in. "Bob, I want to talk to you, now."

"Alright Dennis, what can I do for you?" Ironside asked.

"Please tell me you are not working directly with Perry Mason on this case," Randall raised his voice.

"Alright, I am not working with Perry Mason on this case," Ironside said.

Randall frowned. He looked at his subordinate and friend and said, "Let me put it another way. Are you working with Mason on this case?"

"Yes," Ironside replied.

"What the hell are you thinking? He's the defense attorney, for god's sakes. If the city council gets wind of this they will be in my office screaming at the top of their lungs. When I asked you to investigate this I expected you to help secure the evidence for a conviction, not help Mason clear his client," Randall complained with a raising voice.

"Dennis, I talked to that kid. He is no more capable of murder than you are."

"I would not make that comparison right now Bob if I were you."

Ironside ignored the remark. "Dennis, this is my investigation and I have to do it as I see fit. You knew that when you handed it to me…"

"Do it as you see fit but do it without Mason," Randall interrupted. "That's an order, Bob."

Ironside wheeled over to the table and grabbed the tablet he had been making notes on since yesterday and tossed it at Randall. "Read that Dennis," he growled at his boss.

Randall spent the next few minutes reading the table Ironside had tossed him and then looked up at Ironside. "Where did you get this information?"

"Perry Mason provided it to me when he asked for my help. And we have collected enough information to back up a lot of what he has told us. Dennis, that kid was set up and we have a cop killer out there. I want him and if I have to work with Mason to do it then I will. You deal with the city council and let me do my job," Ironside roared.

Randall stared at Ironside. "The papers are going to have a field day. They already suspect something is up regarding you two. That is obvious from the questions that were asked. They will find out sooner or later. You can't keep a lid on this. I can't believe I am going to let you bulldoze me into…," he trailed off. "Alright, Bob. I will do what I can but get this solved and do it fast." Randall shook his head and headed out the door. "One of these days I am going to win an argument with you."

As he was headed out, Perry Mason, Della Street and Hamilton Burger walked in. Randall stared at Mason. "He's got me so crazy I'm seeing double."

Della smiled. "Commissioner Randall I presume."

"You presume correctly, Miss Street." Ironside turned his chair towards his guest. "Lunch is ready. Perry, what time is the arraignment?"

"Two o'clock," Mason answered.

Hamilton Burger looked at Chief Ironside. "I feel sorry for your district attorney, Chief Ironside. Putting up with Mason here is nerve wracking enough but seeing you convinces me this has the makings of a district attorney's nightmare. Richards might be headed for a nervous breakdown."

Perry laughed, "Chief, this is Los Angeles' esteemed district attorney, Hamilton Burger."

The door burst open. Eve and Lt. Tragg entered. "I think we got something here Perry," Tragg said. "We have found a series of drug arrests that had something in common."

"Let me guess," Perry stated. "All of them found the drugs in round containers, 3 feet long and sealed."

Tragg looked at Mason and said, "How'd you know?"

Ironside snorted, "We knew there had to be a connection. There is no evidence pointing at Lt. Martin in any of this. That makes it logical it is the drugs that is the common link between our two cases. Mr. Mason simply came to the logical conclusion."

"Chief Ironside, it is bad enough that you look like Mason but do you have to talk like him too?" Tragg complained.

Hamilton Burger laughed and then changed the subject. "Lt. Tragg brought me up to date on this case. I have the court transcription you wanted."

"Good, you and I will go over it while Perry goes to the arraignment. Eve, you stay here with us. That will give us four pairs of eyes on those records. What one doesn't catch, maybe another will."

Perry brought everyone up to date on what Whitmore told him and Ironside about the drivers, the containers and the trucks.

"Mark, it will be dinner time by the time you feed us," Ironside grumbled.

Mark brought in sandwiches for everyone. "Chief, I was wondering. Is it possible that Lt. Martin was onto something and one of the reasons he applied for a job here in San Francisco is that he was following the same case to the city here?"

Ironside considered his aide's theory.

Perry looked to Lt. Tragg. "Lieutenant, I knew David Martin at school but after he left there we did not keep in very close contact. We only got together on occasion. Was he ambitious enough he would have ignored department policy and went rogue on investigating this case? And Lieutenant, please don't take offense. I am just trying to explore all possibilities."

Lt. Tragg did not seem to take offense at all. "Well, he certainly wanted to move up. Sometimes, I had to drag information out of him. Yes, I would have to admit I think it is possible."

"It probably cost him his life," Perry said. "Can you have your men start doing some investigating in Los Angeles? Paul has his guys working on this as well. It could help us here."

Tragg stepped to the phone and started dialing.

Perry stood up. "I got to get to court. "Hamilton, would you mind going with me? I want to talk to you."

"Alright Perry," Hamilton told him.

"Chief, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Mason, Burger and Della left Ironside's office.

8.5

"Ok, what was it you wanted to talk to me about, Perry?" Burger asked Mason.

"Hamilton, I want you to join me on defending Whitmore. I am assuming by now we have convinced you he is innocent."

"Did I miss it?" Burger asked.

"Miss what Hamilton?" Della asked him a bit confused.

"Hell freezing over," Burger replied. "I never thought I would see that day when your boss and I would be working on the same case, well at least not on the same side."

"Perry has an idea on how to destroy the testimony of the night guard who saw Whitmore coming out of the warehouse," Della told him.

"Only I can't be in court to question him. That will be your job," Perry told him. "Also you can help me place doubt with the jury over whether Whitmore used his right hand to shoot Martin."

"Jury? You are not planning on ending this in the preliminary hearing?"

"No, in fact I am not going to present anything there. I want this to go straight to jury trial," Perry informed Hamilton.

Burger was intrigued. "Alright, Perry. I'll help you…partly because if Ironside is willing to help you then he is convinced of Whitmore's innocence and partly because at least if I am working with you, I will finally know the satisfaction you feel when you are screwing up one of my cases."

8.6

After spending the entire day in the evidence room investigating the disappearance of the heroin, Lt. Carl Reese was totally frustrated. He had found nothing to indicate that the problem with the cameras was anything but a malfunction. The officer in charge claimed to have seen nothing. Although he had told Drake he went to the bathroom, it turned out he actually had left the desk both times to take a phone call. He had recorded it in the journal that was kept when officers came and went from the desk.

Leaving the desk was against policy and Officer Peter Mitchell had been reprimanded for it both times. The second time he had been given time off without pay. Even if he had been helping someone, and Carl could not prove it yet, there still was nothing to show that someone had caused the cameras to malfunction.

He decided to call it a night. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Ironside's office. Ironside did not like bad news and there wasn't anyone anywhere in the San Francisco police department that liked delivering it to him. Least of all Carl.

8.7

The phone rang in Ironside's office. Robert Ironside picked it up and barked, "Ironside" into the phone. "Yes, Carl." The longer he listened the deeper the frown on his face became. "Someone messed with those cameras, Carl. Figure it out," he demanded and hung up the phone.

The door opened and Sgt. Ed Brown walked in with Paul Drake. Ed fell into a chair by Ironside who said, "try getting some sleep at night Sergeant, you might make it through the day. Since Sgt. Brown doesn't seem to have anything to say, Mr. Drake maybe you can tell me whether or not he earned his pay."

Paul Drake sat down. "Chief, we have a witness that on at least one occasion saw a white truck at our warehouse, but doesn't remember any wording or markings on the trucks. It was at night. The guy was working late at another one of the warehouses when he spotted the truck come in and park. He said he saw activity there but did not pay much attention. That at least proves Whitmore's story about the trucks."

Ed Brown set a piece of a label on the table. It was brown with a large visible blue 'A' in the corner followed by the letters "rm". The other side of the label was torn off. "Paul found this just around the corner of the warehouse. The wind had blown it up against the wall."

"Ed, you and Paul check every trucking company in a 60 mile radius of San Francisco. Find out what the rest of those letters are. We have a theory that started in Los Angeles. Paul…"

"Perry already called me. I have men checking on this. I talked to them tonight and they are convinced they are the same group that was bringing heroin into Los Angeles. There is a possibility Lt. Martin was onto their operation so they moved it to San Francisco. Shortly after, Martin was hired by the SFPD," he briefed Ironside.

"Ok, call it a night but keep on it. Perry called me just after he left and suggested we go back to Whitmore's place. We have to find out how the heroin and Martin's badge got planted. There must be a way in. We have to locate it. He wants one of you to go over every inch of the place."

"Chief, Mason is going to have a hard time breaking the testimony of the guard. He is absolutely positive it was Whitmore coming out of that warehouse," Ed said.

Ironside sarcastically said, "It WAS Whitmore that ran out of that warehouse. Mason believes he can cast doubt on it. That is all he has to do."

Brown started for the door. "I'll meet you at your motel in the morning Paul," he said. "And Chief, I won't be coming into the office at 9:00. I will however call in."

Ironside looked at his sergeant, "Make sure you do."

Paul stayed back. Ironside noticed he was looking at Eve Whitfield. He smiled inwardly and yelled, "Mark, let's get some air."

"Chief, how am I supposed to get my homework done if you don't leave me alone long enough to do it?"

"Now, Mark," Ironside thundered. Mark wheeled him out.

"Where's Tragg?" Paul asked.

"He left about an hour ago. He said he was going to find Mr. Burger and get some dinner," Eve informed him.

"Damn, that means I am going to have to eat alone," Paul said faking disappointment.

"Where are Mr. Mason and Miss Street? Why not eat dinner with them?" She wasn't sure but she thought she heard him mumble 'three's a crowd'. "I haven't eaten Mr. Drake. Why don't we go out and get something together?" Eve suggested.

Paul attempted to hide his elation. "Sure, sounds good, Officer Whitfield."

"Please call me Eve," she smiled.

"In that case call me Paul," he returned the smile.

8.8

Perry and Della sat in an Italian restaurant eating dinner. Perry was lost in thought. Della placed a hand over Perry's. It got his attention. He smiled at her.

"What's bothering you, Perry?" Della asked him.

"We are going to trial in two weeks. We have come a long way in just one day. But we need something solid. I don't want to depend on reasonable doubt. We need to find the real killer," he said.

"Everything that can be done is being done. It's only been one day. Even Ironside will need time to help you solve this one. The combination of the two of you can't lose. You should see you two. You work well together. Between you and the people you have working with you, you'll figure it out."

"We know the containers were used both in Los Angeles and here in San Francisco. Both times a man who has had trouble with the law was chosen to store the containers. The same white trucks were used to move them. No one remembers the drivers and no one remembers the labels on the containers. Either we are dealing with the most unobservant people I have ever seen or someone has gone to great lengths to be sure no impression was made on them."

He continued, "Whitmore remembers one man showing up in a dark vehicle but can't identify him. We got evidence planted at his house but no evidence of forced entry. We are missing something, Della."

"Perry, has anyone looked at James Whitmore? Has his activities been checked into? Why was that particular warehouse never used?"

Perry looked at Della and smiled. "Della, you are a genius. I have an idea. I will talk to Ironside about it tomorrow. Now about some of that personal attention…?" He grinned from ear to ear.

"Here?" Della asked with amusement.

A band had just finished setting up and were starting to play soft music. "Would you like to get cozy on the dance floor?" he grinned."

"Lead the way, counselor!" Della smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Getting Results

Paul Drake and Sgt Ed Brown met in a Chinese restaurant in downtown San Francisco. They had spent most of the day checking every trucking company in and around the city and had come up empty handed. Ed Brown was pushing his food around his dish. "Those trucks can not be from a trucking company. There isn't one anywhere near this city whose name would match that label," he said.

"Ed, I don't think your boss thought those trucks were even owned by a trucking company. Checking it out would just be standard procedure. Whitmore said he saw labels on the containers not the trucks. According to him the trucks had no markings he can remember. No, we have got to dig deeper. I have an idea they are privately owned and have nothing to do with any established trucking company. Maybe we are going about this wrong. Could it be possible they were purchased, repainted removing any markings or advertisements."

"Are you saying we should be checking to find out what trucks have changed hands?" Ed asked.

"It is at least a possibility. We sure have struck out checking trucking companies. Quite frankly the last thing I want to do is go back to your boss and tell him we have found out absolutely nothing. He doesn't strike me as a man who would handle that kind of news well," Paul said.

Ed smiled. "The chief is not exactly a patient man when investigating a case. He wants answers….."

"Yesterday," interrupted Paul and nodded.

"I can check with the Department of Motor Vehicles and get a list of trucks that have been sold and to whom. That is probably going to be a very long list," Ed pointed out.

"We can narrow it down to trucks by the size and model. We can check out the ones first that closely match the size Whitmore describe. Also we can have Lt. Tragg do the same in Los Angeles and find out if any had been registered in the LA area and are now being registered in the city of San Francisco," Paul told him.

"I'll get started on that. In the meantime you can check out how those doors got opened and find out if that napkin has any significance to this whole thing. We still have to check out Whitmore's house. Let's get started.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hamilton Burger and Perry Mason sat at a table in Mason's room. Mason handed him a copy of the prosecution's witnesses. Hamilton looked at the list and said to Mason, "There are no surprises here. The ballistics expert, finger print expert, the security guard, Lt Carl Reese, Sgt Edward Brown, the coroner's office and wait a minute who is George Williams?"

"He is what this case had been missing," Perry said.

"A motive?" Hamilton asked.

"Yes, a motive. Mr. Williams works for Jim Whitmore. Ironside had Eve check him out yesterday. He is the one who supplied Scott Whitmore with heroin while he was addicted to it. He is going to testify Lt Martin came to see Whitmore at his house. Martin knew about the containers. He did however know Scott Whitemore was involved. While he was at Whitmore's house he told him he knew he was storing the containers of heroin in one of the warehouse and would be getting a search warrant to search all Whitmore's warehouse. Whitmore told him he would never get the chance to search them. He would see to it." Perry was up and pacing.

Della Street entered the room with deli sandwiches for her boss and his unusual co-counsel. Perry turned to his secretary and told her, "Della, call Paul on his mobile phone. We need to find out everything we can about this George Williams. It bothers me that the man works for Whitmore. I want him checked out thoroughly. Also call Chief Ironside run it by him so he doesn't assign someone to do the same thing. He doesn't miss anything. It will be on his list as well."

"Chief, did you talk to Hamilton about how we are going to question Bill Thompson, the security guard?"

Hamilton smiled, "oh yes he has. I still think we need to run ir by Ironside. We need his cooperation."

Don't worry about it Hamilton, we'll have his cooperation," Perry grinned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Commissioner Randall was sitting at his desk. His intercom went off. "Commissioner Councilman Martin is out here and he is insisting on seeing you," his secretary told him. Randall reached his thumb and index finger under his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. And so it begins. He swore. Robert T. Ironside was going to drive him crazy. "Show him in please," Randall told her.

Martin walked into the commissioner's office, rather he barged in. "Commissioner, I want Ironside pulled off this investigation. He is working with Mason. How the hell can you justify allowing this. He is suppose to be helping to secure evidence to convict Whitmore. Instead he has his people running around with Mason's people. He is going to help get David's killer off."

Commissioner Randall put his hand up. "Now calm down, Councilman. Bob Ironside has never helped anyone get away with a crime. He investigates and searches for the facts in order to reveal the truth. He's the best detective in the San Francisco Police Department and he has the elite of cops working for him. May I remind you it was your city council that insisted I put him on the case."

"I did not ask for him," roared Martin. I objected from the start. I voted no when they took the vote to insist on Ironside. I don't care who works for him and I don't care how good he is I want him off this case. Put someone on it who is on our side."

"What exactly is our side, Councilman? Don't you want the truth? If Whitmore is guilty believe me Ironside will find the evidence. But if he's not he is not going to use Whitmore as an escape goat. Tell me, why did you vote not to have Ironside on the case? Is there something you do not want him investigating?"

Martin turned away from him. "I don't' have to answer to you, Randall. You answer to us. I am going to call a city council meeting and tell them what is going on if you don't remove Ironside immediately, "he shouted.

"Don't threaten me, Councilman. Bob Ironside may on occasion have unorthodox methods but he gets the job done. What are you afraid of David?"

"Get him off the case, Randall or I will see to it myself." Martin stormed out of the office.

Get this one solved fast, Bob, he thought. I don't know how long I can keep a lid on it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mason and Ironside were sitting alone in the Chief's office. "Bob, do you have anything in this place besides bourbon?"

"I like bourbon," Ironside growled.

Mason laughed. Alright, pour me a glass. As Ironside poured Mason stretched out his legs in front of him. "Paul and Ed have not come up with anything on those trucks yet. We have to find out where those trucks came from. I believe I can destroy the testimony of the security guard….."

"With a little bit of trickery no doubt," Ironside said with a frown.

"You say that as if you disapprove, Chief."

"You are going to destroy the testimony of a guard who I remind you did see Whitmore at the scene of the murder. Whitmore has openly admitted he was there. You want me to approve of that?" Ironside leaned forward and bore his piercing blue eyes into Mason."

"Yes, he was on the scene but he did not kill Martin. Do you really think I can convince a jury he did not kill Martin if I leave Thompson's testimony untouched," Mason asked Ironside.

Ironside looked away conceding Mason's argument. "I suppose not but I just don't have to like it."

Mason reached back into his memory of Ironside's cases. "Some time ago, Bob, your Sergeant Brown was accused of murder, remember. He said he was over 100 miles away at the time but he was identified by a bar full of people who believed he argued with and then killed a man just outside that bar. Seems to me you did everything possible to prove them wrong."

Ironside shook his head and frowned. "That is different. Brown WAS 100 miles away…..your client WAS at the scene of the murder.

"You only knew Brown was 100 miles away because he told you he was. There was no proof at the time that he was actually 100 miles away. You took his word for it," Mason pointed out.

"I know my Sergeant, Mason."

"Because your instincts told you Sgt Brown could not be guilty, you gave it your all to prove it. Look Bob, my job is no different. When my instincts tell my client is not guilty I have to do everything I can to prove it including casting doubt on testimony of a witness that can be damaging."

"Why did you choose the legal profession, Perry?" Ironside changed the subject.

"I guess I just wanted to make a difference…you know stop an injustice from happening against those who for one reason or another got themselves involved in a mess but were not guilty of the crime they are accused of. It's a rewarding job. And I am good at it. Finding that bit of information that proves my client innocent and breaking down a witness on the stand that is lying for whatever the reason. I enjoy being able to protect someone from the imperfections that are in our law enforcement and justice systems. I help those who can not help themselves. In some cases I save them from themselves. What about you? Why did you become a cop?"

Ironside filled their glasses again. "Oh I don't' know. Maybe for some of the same reasons you chose to be a lawyer. Sometime I sit and stare out that window over there," he pointed, "looking out over San Francisco. I love this city. It is the most beautiful city in the world to me. There are so many innocent people out there that need protecting. I find satisfaction in putting a criminal behind bars knowing he will never harm another human being again. I guess I enjoy the challenge of taking a case that seemly has nothing but dead ends and turning those dead ends into a path to the truth. Plus I find it my duty to drive Commissioner Randall crazy," he grinned.

Mason chuckled as Ironside continued to fill their glasses. "I have never found it my duty to drive Hamilton Burger crazy but it is one of the perks of my job." Both men laughed. "Chief, you don't have to answer this but how do you balance being in a wheel chair and doing your job."

Ironside pondered his question for a moment. "When I was told I would never walk again the thought of retirement turned my stomach. I went through a lot of emotions, anger, bitterness, feeling sorry for myself, …you know 'why me'? I kept it to myself. It was pure hell at first but I learned to accept the limitations put on me by that sniper's bullet. I became determined not to let it stop me. I got Dennis Randall to name me as a consultant to his office. Talked him into giving me a staff, an office and living quarters. My staff serves as my legs now. They do what work I no longer can. They are good cops and good people. We trust each other and compliment each others strengths and weaknesses, not that I have any weaknesses, mind you," Ironside raised his eyebrows and nodded his head. "They understand my moods and my methods. We work AND play well together. They are more than cops to me. They are my friends, my family. They would protect me with their lives and I would do the same for each of them. What about you, Della Street and Paul Drake?" he asked.

"Paul has been investigating for my office for many years now. He's good at his job and is always there for me on every case. His work has produced the breaks that have solved a lot of my cases. He has become more than someone who works for me. He's a friend, a brother." Mason became quiet and pondered how to explain Della. "I hired Della few years back and have never ever regretted it for a moment. She runs my office much more efficiently than it ever was before she came. She is more than my secretary. She's my partner. She is involved in every part of the cases. Her intuition is invaluable to me. I can not even begin to imagine my practice without her," Mason told Ironside.

"And outside the office?" Ironside asked. "You are in love with her aren't you?"

Mason smiled, just a bit embarrassed by the intimate question. But fair is fair. Ironside answered his probing question. "You don't miss anything do you? Let's just say she is as important to me privately as professionally." He hesitated but decided Robert Ironside deserved a more straight forward answer, "Yes, Bob, I love her."

Silence reigned for a few moments as both men were lost in their thoughts. Finally Ironside pick up the empty bourbon bottle and pointed it at Mason, "Now that you have finished off my best bottle of bourbon it's time you get out of here and let me get some sleep."

Mason laughed. "Chief, since Mark is not around right now can I help you retire for the night? I promise I will not drop you on your head."

"Well if you do, Lt. Tragg will be delighted because I will call downstairs and have them throw you in a nice uncomfortable cell," Ironside said with amusement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Carl Reese was sitting at his desk. He was completely frustrated. After over a week he still had found no evidence that would shed any light on the malfunctioning cameras. He had updated Chief Ironside twice now with nothing new. The last thing he wanted to do was call Ironside with nothing new. The last time he reported to Ironside he thought the roof was going to come off Ironside's attic office.

At that moment the lights went out in his office. He called downstairs to the basement level and complained to the maintenance man, "Hey, what is going on down there. I just lost my lights."

"Sorry Lt. Reese. There was a short in the one of the plugs in one of the offices. It almost caused a fire. We were trying to turn off the breaker so the plug could be replaced. We accidently shut off the power to your office. We are putting it back on now."

"Alright thanks," Reese said and hung up the phone. Than it hit him…the cameras!

Lt. Tragg and Eve Whitfield were back in Lt. Martin's office reading files and going over notes of every case Martin had worked on.

As Eve Whitfield pulled out the last file in one of the drawers she notice a thin file folder that was taped to the back of the drawer. She pulled it loose. "Lt. Tragg, take a look at this." She carried the file over to Tragg who put it down in front of him on the desk. It was a picture of a small white box styled truck slightly shorter than a pick up truck. Nothing else was included in the file.

Eve looked at Tragg. "Does that truck look familiar to you, Lieutenant?"

"It is exactly what Whitmore described to Perry and Ironside. There is a sign of some kind behind the truck but there is no way my eyes are good enough to see this. Eve, take a look and see if you can read it," Lt. Tragg told her.

"No, sorry Lieutenant. I can't read it either. We can take it to the lab and have it blown up."

"Do it Eve and let me know as soon as you get it back. I will stay here and see what else I can find.

As Eve Whitfield left the room, Lt. Tragg picked up the phone and dialed. "Connect me with Perry Mason's room please."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Drake and Brown entered Whitmore's house. "Ok, let's divide the place in two and start looking. Let's recheck all doors and windows but also look for anything that might indicate the evidence was planted. Ed, you take this floor. I am going to check the basement," Paul said. Drake left as Ed headed into the kitchen.

Sgt. Brown checked the kitchen door and the windows. He found no evidence that any of them had been forced. After looking through drawers and cupboards he left the room. He check the front and back doors with same results. He continued to check each room and searching everywhere for anything that might help.

Upon arriving in the utility room Ed looked at the windows and found the same result as all other rooms. None of the windows had been forced. Ed checked the towel cabinets, the closet and look behind the washer and dryer where the detective's badge had been found. He found nothing that could be of any help. He glanced down at the carpeting. It was green and shaggy, rather hideous Ed thought. Sgt. Brown then noticed a slight slit in the carpeting at the wall. He reached down and then noticed another slit about three feet down from the first one. Ed took hold of the carpeting, pull it away from the wall. He continued pulling until he had revealed what appeared to be a door. He opened the door and Paul Drake popped his head though.

"What's under there, Paul," Ed asked him.

"A crawl space that leads out side the house through a cleverly concealed door covered with indoor/outdoor carpeting on the back porch," Paul told him.

"Well, we know how the evidence got planted," Ed observed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Perry Mason put his key card into his hotel room door and entered. Upon hearing the door open Della Street entered his room through the adjoining door. "It's rather late, Chief. Where have you been?

"Chief Ironside's office," Perry responded. He walked over to Della lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. Della responded moving in closer to the lawyer.

"Have you and the chief been celebrating a little early. We have not solved anything yet," she said in reference to the taste of bourbon on his lips.

Mason smiled. We were getting to know each other. That man doesn't seem to have anything besides bourbon in that place but he's one bottle shy now," he grinned. I hung around and helped him get into bed. The man has guts. He doesn't let his handicap stop him, not for one minute. He puts up a wall with that tough, gruff appearance but I get the feeling there is a very tender caring man behind it."

"You really like Ironside don't you, Perry, "Della asked."

"Very much, Della. I think I have gained a good friend and an ally out of this venture. And I learned a bit about him tonight that helps me to understand him better. I think he probably learned a bit about me too. I enjoyed his company but I don't think I will ever take him on in a drinking contest. He holds his liquor better than I do," he laughed. Della smiled.

"Before I left he got calls from Eve and Ed & Carl . There have been some developments. Both Paul and Tragg called me on my way back here as well. Mason explained what each of them had found out. "We go to court on Monday and I am beginning to feel better about this case. "We're not there yet, Della but things are starting to make sense.

I called Hamilton. He will be here in the morning. We will be working on the defense all weekend. Monday we select the jury. That will probably take all morning. I figure Richardson will call his first witness on Monday afternoon."

"You know I could use a little of that personalize attention," Mason grinned and once again lowered his lips to hers.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10. The Trial

10.1

Della, Perry and Hamilton Burger rode to the courthouse in a cab. Upon arriving a large number of reporters ran towards them.

"Mr. Mason, how do you feel about your client's chances?"

Mason smiled and said, "No comment."

"Mr Burger, why are you working with your arch rival?"

Burger responded as Mason had.

"Mr. Mason, will you call Chief Ironside to the stand for the defense? It is rumored he has been working with you on this case."

Again Perry Mason smiled and repeated, "No comment, boys." He took Della's elbow and guided her through the crowd of reporters into the courthouse. Hamilton moved protectively to her other side.

All eyes in the room turned in the direction of the trio to get their first glimpse of the famous attorney. Excitement was high in the packed courtroom. Many curious people had to be turned away as there was nowhere to put them.

Richards walked over to Perry Mason as Mason set his briefcase down on the table in front of him. He offered his hand and said, "I am John Richards, the prosecutor for the city of San Francisco."

Mason smiled and introduced himself, then Della and finally, "And this is Los Angeles' prosecuting attorney Hamilton Burger. He will be assisting me with this case."

Richard shook hands with the defense team and said to Burger, "I see you found the time after all to work on this case." His voice contained a bit of bitterness.

The bailiff brought in the defendant. Cameras clicked all over the room as Scott Whitmore shook hands with his attorneys. Perry sat down at the end of the table closest to the center aisle. He instructed Hamilton to sit next to him, followed by Whitmore and Della sat on the opposite end from her boss ready with a pen and tablet to take notes.

The judge walked into the room. The bailiff called out, "San Francisco Circuit Court, Judge Herman Thatcher presiding. All rise."

Everyone rose to their feet. Judge Thatcher took his place on the bench and said, "Please be seated".

The judge ordered the jury selection to begin.

Mason and Richards spent the entire morning questioning potential jurors. Both men excused those they felt were biased to their cases. Finally they had a jury they could agree on.

The judge broke for lunch. Perry, Della and Hamilton headed out of the courtroom, fighting their way through the crowd and reporters. Opening remarks would begin this afternoon.

10.2

Eve entered Ironside's office. "Chief, we got the blow up on that sign that was behind the truck. It says 'Armada'. Now only if we knew what that meant."

"Eve, it does mean something. That matches the letters on the containers the heroin was in," Ironside said. "Call Drake, let him know what we have found out. He has been working on those trucks with Ed. Ed's in court right now so get Drake working on it." Eve headed for a phone.

The phone rang. "Chief Ironside's office," Eve answered. "One moment, he's right here." Eve turned to Ironside and said, "Chief, Carl's on the line."

Ironside punched the extension and barked, "Ironside."

"Chief, it's Carl. I got some news on why those cameras malfunctioned. They were helped along. The maintenance department got a call requesting they turn off the breakers to the evidence room. They were told they were having a problem with the wiring of the camera system and needed the juice turned off. It happened twice. The officer on duty those two days has not reported for duty since Paul Drake questioned him. I put out an APB on him. We'll bring him in, Chief, and get to the bottom of this."

"Good work Carl," Ironside told him. "Call me as soon as you find him. And Carl, bring him in unharmed. I want to question him myself. Got that?"

"Yes, will do, Chief." Reese hung up.

"Mark, I want to see **Councilman Martin (See below.)**. Call him and tell him we are on the way."

10.3

Paul Drake entered Chief Ironside's office. "Hi Eve, where's the Chief?"

"He left with Mark. They went to see **Councilman Martin**." Eve smiled and walked to Paul Drake. "Your cell phone is off, Paul. I have been trying to reach you. The chief wants you to check this out. Lt. Tragg and I found a picture of one of those trucks we think were used to transport the heroin. There was a sign behind the truck. We had the sign blown up." She handed the photo to Drake.

Drake studied the blown-up photo and said, "This matches the labels on the container, Eve. Now all we have to do is figure out what Armada is and who owns it."

Just then the phone rang. Eve pick it up. "Chief Ironside's office." She listened for a moment and then said, "Hold on, I want Paul to hear what you have found out." She punched the speaker button and said, "Go ahead, Lieutenant."

Tragg said, "Paul, Tragg here. Seems my boys in LA have found something last night that will help us. They found a small trucking company called Armada outside the city limits of Los Angeles. They are trying to run down who owns it. We should know soon. Paul, it's the one we are looking for. The labels match the ones on the container and we have located more trucks of the same type in that picture. We have a definite connection. David must have followed the trail to San Francisco."

"Alright, I will pass the information on to Perry and Chief Ironside. Lieutenant, I got a call from my guys as well. They have found a body that matches the description of Peter Mitchell, the officer that worked the evidence room when Whitmore's heroin disappeared. They have notified your homicide department. We should have a positive identification soon," Paul informed Tragg. He hung up the phone.

10.4

"Call your first witness, Mr. Prosecutor," Judge Thatcher told John Richards.

"Your Honor, the state calls James Hoover to the stand," Richards said.

A short grey-haired man opened the swinging gate and walked up to the stand. After taking the oath he sat down in the witness stand.

"Sir, would you state your name and occupation for the record?" Richards was on his feet and standing next to his table.

"My name is James Hoover and I am the coroner for the city of San Francisco."

"You did the autopsy on the body of Lt. David Martin." He paused.

Both Perry Mason and Hamilton Burger were up on their feet. Perry sat down and let Hamilton take control. "Objection, Your Honor. He is leading the witness," Burger complained.

"Objection sustained. You know better than that Mr. Prosecutor," the judge reprimanded him.

Glancing over at the defense table with a look that could kill, he turned back to his witness. "Did you do the autopsy on Lt. David Martin?" he asked.

"Yes, sir I did."

"And what were your findings?" Richards walked toward the defense and stood next to Perry Mason.

"There were 3 bullets in the body of the victim," Hoover told him.

"What kind of bullets were they?"

Perry immediately called out, "Objection, the witness is not an expert on bullets."

"Objection sustained."

"Dr. Hoover, in your opinion were these bullets the cause of death?" Richards asked.

"They most certainly were. Death would have been instantaneous," Hoover replied.

"Were there any other signs of violence that could have caused his death?" Richards asked.

"No sir, nothing other than the gunshot wounds."

"At what time would you place the time of death?" Richards asked.

"Based on rigor mortis death occurred between 8:30pm and 9:00 pm," Hoover explained.

"Thank you, Doctor. Your witness, Counselor," Richards said, nodding to Mason.

Perry Mason stood up and approached the witness stand. He smiled and asked, "Doctor, were you able to determine at what range the deceased was shot?"

Richards looked down at his paperwork, embarrassed he had not asked this question.

Dr. Hoover told Mason, "Yes sir, he was shot at close range, no more than 3 feet away." He went on to explain the condition of the body from which he drew his conclusion.

"From the angle the bullets entered the body were you able to determine whether he was shot by a right- or left-handed person?" Mason asked.

"No sir," Hoover told him.

"Thank you, Doctor, that will be all." Mason said and returned to his seat.

"Re-cross, Mr. Prosecutor?" the Judge asked.

"No, Your Honor."

"You may step down." Judge Thatcher told the witness. "Call you next witness Mr. Prosecutor."

"Your Honor, the state calls Louis Morgan of the Ballistics Lab of the San Francisco Police Department," Richards called out.

Morgan took the oath and sat down.

Richards walked over to the table and picked up a gun. "Mr. Morgan, I show you this gun and ask if you have seen it before."

Morgan took the gun and said, "Yes sir, I have. It is the gun that was brought in to our department by Detective Sergeant Edward Brown. He asked us to run a ballistic test on it and compare it to the bullets removed from the chest of Lt. David Martin."

"And you found they matched," Richards said.

Burger was on his feet again. "Objection, leading the witness."

"Objection sustained," Thatcher said. "Please refrain from leading the witness, Mr. Prosecutor."

"I am sorry, Your Honor." He turned back to Morgan and asked, "What was the result of your findings?" He glanced back at Burger to see if he was going to rise from his seat again.

"The bullets that were taken from the body of Lt. Martin were fired from this weapon, a **.**38."

"Then this is the murder weapon." Realizing Mason was on his feet, he corrected himself. "That is, in your opinion is this the murder weapon?"

Perry rolled his eyes behind his hand.

"Yes, it is the murder weapon," Morgan answered.

"I would like these entered in evidence as exhibit 1 and exhibit 2," he told the judge.

Mason stood. He walked over to the table, picked up the gun and bullets, looked at them and said, "No objection, Your Honor."

"Your witness, Counselor," Richard told Mason.

"Mr. Morgan, it is my understanding you are an expert in the firing and handling of guns in addition to being a ballistic expert, are you not?"

Richards stood up, "I have to object here. This was not covered in examination and is irrelevant, immaterial and incompetent."

"Mr. Mason, what are you getting at?" the judge asked.

"Your Honor, I am only trying to establish the full expertise of this witness. I believe his expertise in firing and handling guns is simply part of his qualifications which I have every right to question." Mason said.

Judge Thatcher thought for a moment and then said, "Overruled. You may answer the question."

"Yes, Mr. Mason, I am considered an expert in handling and firing guns," Morgan answered.

Mason smiled and said, "No further questions, Your Honor, but I reserve the right to recall this witness." As Mason returned to the defense table Della leaned over and asked him, "What was that all about Perry?"

"I want to be able to establish his expertise now so I may use him later regarding the handing of a gun by a person who is both right- and left-handed," Mason told her.

"Re-cross?" the judge asked.

"No, Your Honor," Richards said.

"Call your next witness."

"The state calls Lt. Carl Reese of the San Francisco Police Department," Richards announced.

Carl Reese came forward. Once he took the oath and sat down Richards came forward. "Lieutenant, will you state your name and occupation please."

"Detective Lt. Carl Reese, homicide division of the San Francisco Police Department, currently on temporary duty with the office of Chief Robert T. Ironside," he informed him.

"Lieutenant, would you tell us how you came to be on the scene of the murder?"

Reese looked at Richards and said, "I was driving back to the station from another matter when I got a call that a security guard at the Whitmore Warehouses had just come upon a body in one of them that he was charged with keeping an eye on."

"And what did you do next?"

"I called Detective Sgt. Edward Brown of Chief Ironside's office and asked him to join me there." Reese glanced at Ed who was sitting in the back of the courtroom.

"What did you find upon arriving on the scene?"

"I met the security guard at the warehouse in question, he showed me in.

"I found Lt. David Martin lying on the floor. He had been shot three times in the chest. There was a .38 lying beside him on the floor along with a napkin from Ted's bar," Reese continued.

"Did you check to see if he was alive?"

"Of course I did," Reese said indignantly. "He was dead."

"What did you do next?"

"I waited for Sgt. Brown to arrive, which he did moments later. I asked him to call in a team of investigators, call the coroner and question the security guard. We had the place dusted for prints."

"Were any prints found and whose were they?"

"Objection, Lt Reese is not an expert on fingerprints," called out Mason.

"Sustained," came the answer from Thatcher.

"In your investigation did you find anything else of significance?"

"No, there was nothing other than the body and the gun." Reese stared back at Richards.

"Your witness, Mr. Mason."

Mason stayed seated. "Lt. Reese, did the warehouse have any type of lock?"

"Yes, Mr. Mason. It was not locked when I arrived though," Reese told him.

"Did it show any signs of being forced opened?" Mason asked the detective.

"No sir. It simply was not locked."

"And you found no key anywhere?" Mason continued.

"No sir."

"Your Honor, we have established the warehouse was not locked as everyone was going in and out freely. I do not see where Mr. Mason is going with this," Richards complained.

Mason said, "I have no further questions, Your Honor." He had already gotten the answers he wanted.

"Any re-cross, Mr. Richards?" followed the judge.

"No, Your Honor," Richards told him.

"Next witness, Mr. Richards?"

Richards stood up and called Ed Brown to the stand. "Please state your name and occupation."

"Detective Sgt. Edward Brown of the San Francisco Police Department. I am assigned to the office of Chief Robert T. Ironside," Ed answered.

"Please tell us how you became involved in the events of the night of the murder," Richards asked him.

"I was off duty having left Chief Ironside's office. I received a call from Lt. Reese to assist him at the scene. When I arrived Lt. Reese was already there. Lt. Martin was on the floor apparently shot to death. Lt. Reese asked me to bring in a team of investigators including fingerprint experts, the coroner and a sketch artist. I made the calls and then went to interview the security guard," Ed offered.

"Then what happened?" Richards asked.

"The security guard told me he had seen a man run out of the warehouse just before he went in and discovered the body. So I had the security guard describe the man to our sketch artist. When I saw the finished sketch, I recognized it to be Scott Whitmore from several photos I had seen of him in the papers with his father, the congressman. I called in and put out an APB. He was picked up later on a routine traffic violation."

"You then searched his apartment," Richards stated.

Perry shook his head and whispered, "Do you want to or shall I, Hamilton?"

"Objection, leading the witness," Burger said with boredom in his voice. He could not believe the inexperience of this man. He continued to make the same mistakes over and over. When the time comes, Burger thought, Perry is going to destroy him.

"Sustained."

Richards turned red. Perry wasn't sure whether it was anger or embarrassment. "Sgt. Brown, did you check Scott Whitmore's apartment?"

"Yes, after obtaining a search warrant I went to his apartment with two other officers."

"What did you find, if anything?" Richards asked smugly.

"We found heroin hidden in cereal boxes, $50,000 in cash in a crawl space under the house and we found Lt. Martin's detective badge."

"Sergeant, I would like you to look at these three items and tell me if they are the items you described and found at the defendant's house."

Brown looked at all three items and responded, "Yes, they are. They have my mark on them."

"Your Honor, I would like these entered as exhibit 4, 5 and 6," Richards said. Perry stood up, examined the exhibits and said, "No objection."

"One final question, was there any sign of forced entry into the defendant's home?" Richards asked.

"No sir, there was not," Brown answered.

"Your witness, Counselor," Richards said.

Perry nodded to Hamilton Burger who stood up and approached the detective. "Sgt. Brown, did you have the opportunity to return to the house for further investigation?"

Richard was on his feet. "Objection, this was not covered in my examination."

Hamilton directed his remarks to the bench. "Your Honor, Mr. Richards made a point to ask if there was any sign of forced entry. The defense simply wants to show that forced entry was not needed in this case. We intend to show the evidence against our client could have been planted."

The judge thought for a minute and said, "I am going to allow this line of questioning but get to the point quickly, Counselor."

Burger turned his attention back to Sgt. Brown. "Did you return to the house, Sergeant?"

"Yes, I did along with Paul Drake, a private detective. We found the carpeting in the utility room had been cut at the wall, three feet across. I pulled back the carpeting and it revealed a door going to the basement. I went down to the basement where Paul Drake showed me a crawl space with a door that had been concealed."

"And where did it lead?" Burger asked.

"It led outside through the porch," Brown told him.

"Re-cross, Mr. Richards," Burger said.

Richards was clearly upset with this revelation. He approached Brown. "Sgt. Brown, was there any conclusive evidence that these exhibits had been planted by bringing them though this concealed door?"

"No, sir," Brown said. With that Sgt. Brown was excused.

The judge addressed the attorneys. "Due to the lateness of the hour we will adjourn until 9:00 tomorrow morning."

10.5

Everyone met back at Chief Ironside's office. Mark had prepared chili, the chief's favorite meal. Perry and Hamilton gave everyone a rundown on what happened in court and Paul, Eve, Lt. Tragg and Lt. Reese brought everyone up to date on the investigation.

Mark put the very large pan of chili in the middle of the table and said, "I will not be held responsible for the holes the chief's chili burns in your stomachs, so eat at your own risk."

Ironside gave his aide an indignant look as Ed, Eve and Carl laughed. "The only thing around here we eat more often than the chief's chili is Tums," Ed said to another round of laughter.

"When you people are finished with dinner, you can report to traffic control," Ironside told his staff, attempting to keep a serious look on his face.

"Bob, I believe Hamilton got the jury thinking about the possibility the evidence at Whitmore's house was planted. We will be able to cast doubt on the security guard but we need more on Williams and we need to find out who owns those trucks. I am convinced they are the key to this case," Perry told him.

Della looked at Perry. "Could it be possible Williams himself is connected to those trucks and the planting of the evidence at Whitmore's house?"

Perry looked back at Della and said, "I have been wondering the same thing."

Ironside looked out over this unusual group of allies and said, "We are going to concentrate on those trucks and the murder of Officer Peter Mitchell. Carl is following up on the cameras. All of these events are related. I want to add one more piece to this puzzle. I want both Jim Whitmore and Councilman David Martin thoroughly checked out. We have not had the time to check them out but I want it done now. Ed, your job is Whitmore and. I am beginning to think he is avoiding me. Mark and I will go see Martin. Eve, you and Lt. Tragg follow up with our Los Angeles operatives on Mitchell's murder and check out Williams. Paul, find the owner of that trucking company.

"Perry and Hamilton and Della, just handle the trial and let the rest of us handle the investigation. Alright, any questions?"

"Just one," Tragg said. "Where is that supply of Tums?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 The End of a Long Day

11.1

Della and Perry sat at the table in Perry's room going over the paperwork connected with the current case. Perry started rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Perry, when you start that I know you are too tired to continue working. Why don't you go to bed?"

"Della, can you name a time when we both weren't tired while working on a case?" Perry continued going through papers.

He had a point. Her thoughts turned to Hamilton Burger and she chuckled.

"What's so funny, Miss Street?" Perry set his papers down and looked directly at her.

"I was just thinking Hamilton was in his glory today, objecting and questioning that witness for you. I believe he was actually enjoying himself working with you," Della observed.

Perry smiled. "Regardless of the tension between us when we are facing each other in court, I have always had a healthy respect for his abilities as a lawyer. I think he feels the same way about me. Sometimes I think the tension arises because he wants to beat me so badly and the odds are someday he probably will."

"Perry, I was thinking about the DA today. He is terribly inexperienced. You actually went rather easy on him. I saw several times you could have really embarrassed him. He is really outmatched against you and Hamilton."

"I am wondering if he has yet realized he did not even tie that gun to Whitmore. He never brought up that the gun was registered to him," Perry said.

"I caught that. Why didn't you object to it being entered into evidence?" Della asked.

"Because if I did then he would have tied the gun to him, Della. He would have realized his mistake. Hamilton told me he tried to get him to join him with the case. It's too bad for him Hamilton did not agree to do it. He could really use his help."

Della noticed that Perry was fidgeting and tapping his fingers on the table. He looked tired but it was obvious he was wound up. She smiled. "I think I know what your problem is."

Perry looked up. "And what might that be?" he said with a touch of amusement.

"It's simple, you are restless. Normally when on a case, you are out there almost as much as Paul questioning and investigating. But this time you enlisted the help of a big city detective, in fact probably the best detective in the country. He is spearheading the entire investigation and you are chopping at the bit to get out there yourself." Della walked over and sat down in Perry's lap.

Perry smiled. "You know me far to well, Miss Street." Perry pulled Della to him and softly kissed her. "You are right of course. I am not used to being tied to just the courtroom. Don't get me wrong, Bob Ironside has moved this case extremely fast. What we have found out in such a short period of time is short of amazing. His people are so eager to please him, they don't stop until they get what he wants. And our people are working alongside them like they had always been there. Of course with me insisting on going straight to a jury trial it forced everyone to work at this fever pace."

"I sense something else is bothering you. What is it? Do you think Chief Ironside has missed something?" Della asked him.

"Ironside miss something? Not a chance Della, he has not missed a thing. The pieces are all there. We just need to fit them together to solve this. What is bothering me is the way Whitmore and Martin seem to be avoiding Ironside. Why? It doesn't make sense. Whitmore has made himself unavailable to Ironside a couple times now and Martin was not available to see him even after the Chief had Mark call ahead to let him know he was coming. There are no other two people who should want this case solved more than they should, so why would they avoid Ironside? This is his city and everyone knows his reputation. If I wanted a case solved I would surely want him on it."

Della smiled. "You've got him on it."

"Exactly. Della, let's get him on the phone. I want to go with him to see Martin. We need to have him put it off until after court tomorrow."

"Perry, do you think that is wise? Martin is not exactly going to welcome the man who is trying to get off the guy he thinks murdered his son. You know Martin has been pressuring Commissioner Randall to remove Ironside."

"That's not going to happen. Randall knows Ironside is the best man for the job. He will growl and complain at Ironside but he will bow to him. Something is bothering me about Martin and I want to be there. Maybe between Bob and I, we can figure it out."

Della picked up the phone, dialed the number and handed the phone to Perry. After about a 15-minute conversation Perry returned. "He agreed to do it but I don't think he likes it." He went back to his paperwork.

"Huh, with good reason", Della said. She looked at Perry who was dead on his feet. She put her arms around him from behind and rested her cheek on his. "Mr. Mason, what have I told you about staying up all night? It is time you got some rest."

Perry turned to look at Della and knew that look in her eye. There was no arguing with her. He stood up and took her into his arms. "Alright, Della. We'll call it a night."

11.2

Ed Brown pulled into the parking lot of Ted's. He thought he better check this out before the Chief pointed out that he had assigned this task and neither Paul nor himself had had time to run it down.

Ed entered the bar. He took a look around. It looked like a normal bar crowd. He walked over to the bartender, pulled out his badge and said, "I would like to ask you some questions."

The bartender looked at Ed. "What questions?"

Ed flashed him a picture of Lt. David Martin. "Have you ever seen this guy?"

The bartender looked at the picture. "No, never seen the guy before."

Ed showed him another picture. "What about this guy?"

"Yea, that guy has been in here. He was with another guy. They have met here on several occasions. They usually sit in that corner booth over there," he said, pointing to the left booth at the front of the bar.

"Do you remember when was the last time you saw them?"

The bartender told him it had been a couple weeks ago. After pushing the guy to narrow it down to the exact day the bartender told Ed the date. It happened to be early in the evening the night of the murder.

"Can you describe the man he was with?" Ed asked him.

After giving him the description the bartender said, "Listen, if you got what you wanted, I need to get back to work."

Ed thanked the man and proceeded to talk to patrons in the bar for any information he could get. When he decided he could learn nothing more, he left the bar, got in his car and drove home. He was now pretty sure he knew of at least one person that was at the scene of the murder besides Scott Whitmore.

11.3

Eve and Paul were in a coffee shop not far from the Chief's office. "So tell me, what's it like to work for Chief Robert T. Ironside?"

Eve smiled. "The hours are long but the job is rewarding. He's brilliant, tough, demanding, and sometimes moody but he cares about Mark, Ed and I. He looks out after us and we would do anything for him. Beneath that tough exterior is a man with a big heart but if you tell him I said that, I'll deny it! I would not want to ruin his image," she laughed. "He's amazing to watch when on a case. There isn't much he can't figure out. He listens to us and lets us follow our hunches. He's a good man, Paul. I owe him a lot. He wrote the recommendation that got me into the police academy and he handpicked me to work for him. I would do anything to keep from letting him down. He means a lot to me."

"I know what you mean. I have been working cases for Perry for some time now. Beside the fact that he's my best-paying client, I always go the extra mile for him. We have become very close friends over the years. I was once wrongly accused of murder and he stepped in and defended me. Never asked me whether or not I did it. No question as to whether he would take the case. He just dove in and gave it his all to protect me. So I know where you are coming from because I would do anything for him," Paul said.

Paul thought for a minute and then asked Eve, "Are you and Ironside….aaaa…"

"No. We love each other but not that way. What about you. Mr. Mason's secretary is a beautiful woman. Any interest there, Paul?" Eve smiled.

"Well if there was it would be wasted. Her attentions are elsewhere," Paul admitted.

Eve got the hint and dropped the subject. "We better get going. It's getting late and the Chief is a stickler about being on time."

"Alright, I enjoyed your company. Perry has been engaged elsewhere and Tragg and Burger are not exactly my idea of after-hours buddies," Paul laughed. "Besides you are far prettier than Perry, Tragg or Burger."

11.4

Hamilton Burger and Tragg were sitting in Burger's room drinking from a six pack of beer they had picked up on the way to the motel.

Burger told Tragg all about what happened in the courtroom. Tragg noticed that he was quite animated when speaking of Mason and how he had treated Burger like a co-counsel.

"Hamilton, I get the feeling you enjoyed working with Perry today," Tragg said.

Burger took another swallow from his beer and laughed heartily. "I spend so much time mad at that man I can't think straight. His antics in and out of the courtroom drive me insane and here I am sitting beside him in court and planning strategy on how to handle witnesses. You know, Arthur, I have to admit he's a damn good attorney. Even I made sure Perry was the one defending my friend when he was accused of murder. I guess it's a different story when he's sitting at the other table in the courtroom. He's the kind of attorney you want on your side, not against you. This has been a learning experience. He's dedicated and he believes in his clients. He works just as hard defending them as we do trying to put those we think are guilty in jail. Yes, Arthur, I am enjoying working with him. It's a whole side of him we normally hate but is he really so different from us? We all want the truth after all."

Tragg stretched his legs out in front of him on the foot stool, took a drink and stated, "Just as long as we don't have to tell him. I don't think he would ever let us live it down if he found out we were enjoying working with him."

Hamilton laughed. "Drink up Arthur and then get out of here. I have to meet Perry for breakfast."

11.5

It was 4:30 in the morning and Robert T. Ironside was wide awake. He reached over and turned on the light. _Why do I have this nagging feeling the solution to this whole case is right in front of me? Why are Whitmore and Martin avoiding me? Why do I feel that Officer Mitchell had been into this up to his neck for some time? Why was he taken out? What did he know? And those damn trucks. Why in the hell was the owner of that trucking company still a mystery? How did that warehouse get unlocked and who knew about those doors at Scott Whitmore's house in order to plant the evidence? Could it be…? If I am right then I am about to cause a political earthquake. Maybe having Mason along with me will help send it up the Richter scale. Maybe it was time to start baiting the killer out into the open. But if I am right I will need Mason to help pull it off. I know Perry loves to be in the thick of the investigation. I also know he pulled back in respect to my investigative abilities but maybe, just maybe, leaving Perry out of the investigating end of this whole case was a mistake. Yes! Together, we can bust this wide open. And we can start with Perry's idea of how to break down that security guard. The idea Perry thinks I know nothing about! He should know me better than that by now,_ Ironside thought. _Everyone has done their jobs well. Now it is time to take advantage of their hard work._

"Mark!" roared Ironside. "Mark! Where in the flaming hell are you? Mark!"

Mark Sanger dragged himself out of bed, opened the door and said, "In bed, Chief. You know, sleeping like you should be at this hour in the morning."

"Sleeping is for the weak, Mark. Get me the hell out of this bed and into the shower. It's time to get up. While I am in the shower, call Perry Mason and tell him to get here by 7:00. Tell him I'll explain when he arrives. And have him bring Hamilton Burger with him."

"Chief, it's 4:30 am. You want me to call Mason at this hour?" Ironside gave him a look that could kill. "Alright, but those two cats are going to luv ya for letting them sleep in so late," he said sarcastically. _That does it,_ he thought. _I am getting Decaf the next time I do the grocery shopping. And if that doesn't work there is always ear plugs._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 The Defense's Turn

12.1

As Perry Mason, Della Street and Hamilton Burger left Chief Ironside's office, Commissioner Randall entered followed by the entire City Council minus David Martin Sr. Every member of the council glanced at Mason in amazement on the way in.

"Well Dennis, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Ironside asked him in a raised voice.

"Bob, the city council would like to talk to you," Randall said. Ironside detected tension is his friend's voice.

"Alright," Ironside said. "What can I do for you?"

"The council is concerned about this alliance you seem to have with Perry Mason," Randall informed him.

"Excuse me," interrupted Patrick Simpson, the mayor of San Francisco. "Concerned? Is that what you call betrayal, Commissioner?"

"Now just a minute, Mr. Mayor, I resent that. There is no more loyal member of the police force than Bob Ironside. If you want to question his methods, fine but don't question his loyalty," Randall said angrily.

"Chief Ironside is a servant of this city. His job is to find the evidence to put Whitmore in jail. Instead he is running around with Perry Mason looking for evidence to clear him," the mayor retorted just as angrily.

"Mr. Mayor, my job is not to find the evidence to put Whitmore in jail. My job is to find the truth. You asked me to take this case. If in doing so you expected me to railroad an innocent man into jail then you asked for the wrong man," Ironside thundered.

"Now look, Ironside…" Mayor Simpson started.

"No, you look, Mr. Mayor. If Whitmore is guilty the evidence will prove his guilt. Right now it is looking more all the time that he was framed. We have a cop killer out there. I want him behind bars as much as you do, but I want the guilty man. I am not going to help you or anyone else send Whitmore to death row because it will limit publicity and give you a nice neat package to tie a ribbon around," Ironside roared.

"Why are you working with Mason?" asked Adam Johnson, a member of the council.

"Perry Mason has provided valuable information at a great risk to his client and himself. He has cooperated with this department completely. I believe both he and his client deserve a fair and thorough investigation from this police department. As long as I am heading this investigation that is what is going to happen," Ironside growled at the city council.

Councilman Ross Jamison spoke up, "I think it is time, Commissioner, you remove Chief Ironside from this investigation and put someone in charge who can figure out that they work for the police department and not the defense attorney."

"I agree," confirmed Councilman Herb Gallagher.

"You people seem to have very short memories," Commissioner Randall said. You had the entire city screaming for protection when those girls were being murdered and it was THIS man you turned to and he solved that one for you. You turn to him for all the tough cases, you know... the ones that take the heat off you. He solves every one of them and saves you from embarrassment. And he's a hero. Now because he may be causing you a bit of embarrassment you want him removed? And you question his loyalty?" Randall shouted.

Councilwoman Donna Wilson spoke in a calm voice, "The commissioner is right. I for one trust Chief Ironside. There is no denying his record for getting at the truth. So we are under some political pressure and possibly some embarrassment, do we really want him to fabricate evidence just to get a conviction on Whitmore? I am not sure I agree with him working with Mason but he seems to see something in Mason that has him trusting him to the point of combining forces. I ask all of you, how many times has this man's instincts been wrong?"

Everyone fell quiet for a moment. The mayor calmed down. He glanced over to Ironside and asked, "How close are you to solving this?"

"I believe very close. We have the pieces to this puzzle. We have to put them together for the answer," Ironside told him.

"Chief, I'm sorry. Everyone was immediately edgy about this case from the start and then of all people Perry Mason shows up as the defense attorney. And now we have all the talk about the two of you working together. I said some things I did not mean. If you really feel you are on the right track then you do what you think is right. We will just have to wait it out. David Martin has been pressuring us and so has his friend the Governor. It has us all crazy."

"Forget it, Pat," Ironside said. "I will warn you, this is going to get worse in the next few days. You are just going to have to ignore the screaming. We will get this solved as quickly as possible."

The city council agreed to ignore the pressure and give Ironside a free hand to do what was necessary and left his office.

"Well Bob, we dodged another bullet," Randall sighed.

"For the time being, Dennis. I am not sure how long. I think I better let you in on what is going to be happening. You better sit down," Ironside warned him.

12.2

The officer answered his phone. He listened to the familiar voice. "It is not my fault. I destroyed the records showing the call to the basement asking for the power to be shut off. Problem is Reese found the guy who got the call and shut off the power. There isn't anything I can do about that. Ironside is all over this case and he is working with Perry Mason. There are police, lawyers and private dicks crawling all over here." He listened for a moment. "Of course Mitchell is dead. How do you think he got that way? As soon as I learned about Reese I took care of Mitchell." He listened again and then said, "They won't tie it to us. I drove the body down to Los Angeles and dumped it there."

The officer continued to listen and told his caller, "I am keeping an eye on it. Ironside can't tie us to anything. I have to go. Relax, everything is under control. Ironside is not a problem."

12.3

Hamilton Burger was sitting at the defense table when Perry and Della walked into the courtroom. Cameras starting clicking the moment they entered. As they approached, Hamilton stood up and shook Perry's hand. The bailiff brought in Scott Whitmore. Whitmore looked at his lawyer, nodded in his direction and sat down between Burger and Della.

John Richards entered and headed to the prosecutor's table. The judge walked in. "All rise."

Everyone in the courtroom stood up. "Please be seated," the judge said. "Mr. Richards are you ready to call you next witness?"

"Yes, Your Honor but we would like to recall Sgt. Edward Brown," Richards answered.

"Objection!" Both Perry and Hamilton were on their feet voicing objection at the same time. Hamilton glanced at Perry, nodded and then sat back down. "Your Honor, Mr. Richards has already called and questioned Sgt. Brown. We see no reason for him to recall the sergeant," Perry told the judge.

"Your Honor, Sgt. Brown has further information that is important to this case. We simply want to make it a matter of record."

"Mr. Richards had a chance to question Sgt. Brown. He could have made whatever he is fishing for a matter of record," Mason complained.

"What do you mean fishing, Mason? I resent…"

"Alright gentlemen, that's enough. Mr. Richards, Mr. Mason has a legitimate complaint. However, in the interest of justice I am going to allow you to go ahead Mr. Richards, but I will warn you I will also give Mr. Mason wide latitude in cross examination. Objection overruled. Sgt. Brown, please take the stand and remember you are still under oath."

Ed Brown came forward and sat down in the witness stand. John Richards approached him and said, "Sergeant, I would like to go back to the gun." He walked over to the table and picked it up. "Once again, you are familiar with this weapon."

"Oh for cripes sakes," Hamilton whispered.

"Objection, Your Honor, the defense has been patient with Mr. Richards' mistakes but we must insist he stop leading witnesses," Perry complained.

"Objection sustained. Mr. Richards, you must refrain from leading your witnesses."

"My apologies, Your Honor." Richards' face was beet red when he turned and stared at Perry Mason. "Mr. Brown, the gun you are holding in your hand, is it the same gun you were shown yesterday as the murder weapon?"

"Yes, it is," Ed Brown said.

Perry leaned over and whispered to Burger, "Looks like he discovered his mistake." Hamilton nodded in agreement.

"Sgt. Brown, did you have the opportunity to check the gun's registration?" Richards inquired.

"Yes, I did," Brown answered.

"Well?" Richards said.

"Well what?" Ed answered innocently. Mason, Burger and Della all had smiles on their faces.

Richards rolled his eyes. "Did you find out who the gun is registered to?"

"Yes," Brown said offering nothing further. Mason and Burger looked at each other, both men trying to contain their amusement.

Richards was exasperated. "Sgt. Brown, who is this gun registered to? Is that plain enough for you?"

Mason was on his feet again. "Objection! Mr. Richards is badgering his own witness."

"Objection sustained."

"Please answer my question, Sergeant."

"The gun is registered to the defendant, Scott Whitmore."

"Thank you Sergeant. Your witness, Mr. Mason," Richards said.

"Sergeant Brown, would you please explain to the jury what a paraffin test is?" Mason instructed him.

"Objection, Your Honor. I did not cover this in examination," Richards complained.

"Mr. Richards, I told you if I allowed you to recall Sgt. Brown I would allow Mr. Mason the widest latitude and that's exactly what is going to happen. Overruled."

"Sergeant?" Mason repeated.

"When a person shoots a gun this test will show up residue on his hands proving he fired a gun," Brown said.

Perry Mason walked up to the stand and asked, "Did you order a paraffin test on Scott Whitmore?"

Brown nodded, "Yes sir. I did."

"And what were the results of that test?" Mason questioned the detective.

"I do not know the results, Mr. Mason," Ed Brown said uncomfortably.

Mason asked, "And why do you not know?"

"Because the paraffin test was removed. It disappeared," he admitted.

Perry Mason turned his back on Ed Brown and looked directly at the jury. "Then could it have been taken by someone who did not want the police to know Scott Whitmore had not fired a gun that night?"

"Objection! Calls for a conclusion on the part of the witness. There is no way to know what that report contained," Richards shouted.

Mason turned his body halfway towards the district attorney **and** while keeping his face visible to the jury and said in his booming courtroom voice, "My point exactly, Mr. District Attorney! I withdraw the question." Hamilton covered his mouth with his hand and smiled. He felt sorry for the district attorney, remembering how many times Perry had walked him into that same type of trap.

"You may step down Sgt. Brown," the judge said. "Call your next witness."

Richards called Jerome Kincaide, a fingerprint expert, to the stand. Once sworn in and seated, Richards asked him to identify himself and his position with the police department.

"Mr. Kincaide, I show you this gun and this police detective badge and ask you, have you seen them before?" Richards asked.

"Yes sir, a police detective out of Chief Ironside's office asked me to dust them for fingerprints." Kincaide was watching Richards intently.

"And did you find any fingerprints on either the gun or the badge, Mr. Kincaide?"

Kincaide nodded and said, "Yes sir. We found the defendant's fingerprints on both the badge and the gun."

"Your witness, Mr. Mason," Richards said.

Mason stood up, looking down at his paper work, and finally said, "Mr. Kincaide, the fingerprints you found, were they from Mr. Whitmore's right or left hand?"

"All of the prints were from his right hand," Kincaide said.

"Thank you, that will be all," Mason said.

Judge Thatcher said, "You may step down. Call your next witness."

Richards called George Williams.

After he was sworn in and sat down, Richards approached him. "State you name and occupation for the record, please."

George Williams replied, "I work for James Whitmore as a general assistant."

"Mr. Williams, I take you back to a conversation that took place two days before the murder at the home of the defendant. Can you tell us who was present?"

"Myself, Scott Whitmore and Lt. David Martin," Williams responded.

"Tell the court what the conversation was about," Richards said.

"Scott and Lt. Martin were arguing. Martin accused Whitmore of storing heroin in containers in one of James Whitmore's warehouses. He accused him of removing it by trucks when he had sales for it. Martin told him he would have enough evidence in two days. He told Scott he knew he had received fifty thousand dollars for drugs. He said he would have a search warrant for the warehouses and his house. Scott told him he would never get the chance."

"Your witness, Counselor." Richards nodded to Mason.

"Your Honor, I have no questions for this man at this time but I would like to reserve the right to recall him at a later date," Perry said.

Judge Thatcher turned to the witness, "You may step down but you may be called by the defense later on. Mr. Richards?"

"The state calls Bill Thompson to the stand."

Thompson testified he was the guard that saw Whitmore coming out of the warehouse. Mason did not question him as he knew he would be calling him for the defense.

"The state rests, Your Honor."

"We will break here for lunch and resume at 2:00pm," Judge Thatcher said, banging his gavel down on the bench in front of him.

12.4

James Whitmore walked into the office of Robert T. Ironside. "Bob, I am sorry about putting off meeting with you but I had good reason. Something is going on at my warehouse and I don't mean the murder. There is a key missing to the warehouse the body was found in and it is not Scott's key. That one is accounted for."

Ironside looked at his friend and said, "Who had access to those keys?"

"Besides myself, the security guard of course, Scott and my personal assistant, George Williams," Whitmore informed the chief.

"Jim, are there keys missing from any of the other warehouses?" Ironside asked him.

"That's just it Bob, none of the warehouses on the property have any keys missing but there is some inventory that is listed to be in them that I simply have no record of ever checking in."

Ironside look at Jim Whitmore. "Jim, do I need a search warrant for those warehouses?"

"Hell no, Bob. Send your boys and I will see to it they are open and you can search to your heart's content."

"Eve, is Ed back from court yet?" Ironside asked gruffly.

"No chief, he's not and he has not called in yet either," Eve informed him.

"Then call Lt. Tragg. You go down there with him. Take enough boys to search every inch of those warehouses. I want the contents compared to Jim's records. I want to know what is in there that should not be." Ironside wheeled himself to the phone. He picked it up and called Paul Drake. "Paul, it's Ironside. I want you to find out if any other warehouses have been rented in the name of Whitmore's company. If there are, try and find out what's in them." Ironside slammed down the phone.

"Alright, I will head over there to get those warehouses open. And Bob, I appreciate what you are doing for my son. I know you really are not doing it for him but because you have agreed to work with Perry's people to find the truth. I feel my son could not be in better hands. If there is anything else I can do to help, please do let me know." Whitmore offered his hand to Ironside who accepted it with a firm handshake.

"Mark, did you run that errand to the court house I asked you to?" Ironside yelled out.

"Yes chief. It is all taken care of. I caught Perry Mason as he was coming out of the courthouse for lunch," Mark told him.

12.5

"Della, did you get the baseball I asked you to get?" Perry asked her.

"Right here chief," Della said as she handed the ball to Perry.

"Good, as soon as we get back in court, hand it to Hamilton," he said as he gave it back to her. "He knows what I want him to do with it." Mason took Della's elbow and they headed for Mason's rented car.

12.6

"All rise," the bailiff announced. Everyone in the courtroom stood up as Judge Thatcher came into the courtroom.

"Be seated. Mr. Mason, is the defense ready?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Mason said.

"Then call your first witness."

"The defense calls Benjamin Kaye." Mason turned toward the gate as Benjamin Kaye came through. He took the oath and sat down.

"Mr. Kaye, are you not a handwriting expert?" Mason asked.

"Yes sir, I am," he responded.

"I hand you a report that you gave to my co-counsel, Mr. Burger. Will you tell the jury what this report is, please?" Mason turned the report over to Kaye.

"I received a call from Mr. Hamilton Burger who asked me to run a handwriting analysis on Mr. Whitmore. This report is the result of that analysis."

"In summary, what did you determine?" Perry asked him.

"I determined that Mr. Whitmore is indeed left handed," Kaye told him.

"Your Honor, I have to object to this testimony as incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant," Richards complained.

"On the contrary, Your Honor," Perry Mason said. "The district attorney has charged my client with shooting Lt. David Martin to death. The fingerprints on the gun and on the Lieutenant's badge were from Mr. Whitmore's right hand. The fact that Mr. Whitmore is left handed is very relevant," Mason contended.

"Overruled. You may continue Mr. Mason."

"I have no further questions," Mason said. "Your witness, Mr. Richards."

"I have no questions," Richards said.

Kaye stepped down. "Call your next witness, Mr. Mason."

Mason stood up and said, "The defense calls Louis Morgan to the stand."

Louis Morgan returned to the stand.

Judge Thatcher looked at the witness and said, "Mr. Morgan, I will remind you that you are still under oath."

Perry Mason walked over to his witness and said, "Mr. Morgan, will you please remind the jury of your occupation?"

"Yes sir, I am a ballistics expert with the San Francisco police department," Morgan responded.

"Are you not an expert in the handling of guns as well?" Mason asked.

"Yes sir, I am considered an expert in handling guns."

"Since the fingerprints on the gun were from the defendant's right hand, would it be reasonable to say he would have had to shoot Lt. Martin with his right hand?" Mason asked.

"Objection, calls for a conclusion," Richards called out.

"Sustained. Rephrase your question, Mr. Mason."

"Would it not indicate the defendant held the gun in his right hand?" Mason asked.

"Yes, of course it would."

"Thank you, your witness, Mr. Richards," Mason said. As he sat down he whispered to Hamilton, "You know what to do on re-cross?" Hamilton nodded, indicating he did.

Richards stood up. "Mr. Morgan, is it not possible for an individual who is known to be able to use both hands to also be able to shoot a gun with his right hand?"

"Yes, it is possible."

"Mr. Whitmore plays baseball right handed. I have sworn statements to that effect. I also have sworn statements that he occasionally practiced shooting at the range with his right hand. I can call witnesses to that effect," Richards boasted.

"That will not be necessary, Mr. Richards," Perry said. "The defense will concede that the defendant plays baseball right handed and will concede he also occasionally practiced shooting right handed as well if the district attorney will concede his record for shooting right handed was extremely poor," Mason challenged Richards.

Richards thought for a moment. "Prosecution will agree to that. Re-cross, Mr. Mason."

Richards was surprised when Mason stood up and walked toward the witness. Hamilton Burger got up and positioned himself in front of the witness stand back at the defense table.

Perry stood to the right of the witness stand and asked, "Mr. Morgan, are you right or left handed?"

"Objection, incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant," Richards shouted.

"Your Honor, if the court will bear with me I will show relevance," Mason maintained.

"Overruled, but get to the point, Counselor."

"Mr. Morgan?" Mason asked.

"I am able to use both hands for different activities but like all others I have a primary," Morgan said.

"Would it be fair to say that a person who is able to use both hands in different situations would use their primary hand in others?" Mason asked.

"Yes sir, that would be fair to say."

Mason looked over at Hamilton Burger and said, "Mr. Burger over there is right handed but golfs left handed. Would it not be fair to say he would use his primary hand for most activities?"

"That is fair to say as well, Mr. Mason."

"Would it not be further fair to say that an individual that uses both hands for different activities would in an emergency, or in an instant where they did not have much time to think, use their primary hand?" Mason boomed across the courtroom.

Before Morgan had the time to answer, Hamilton Burger pitched the baseball he had been holding in his hand right directly at Morgan's head. It startled Morgan but he immediately put his left hand in the air and caught the ball.

"Your Honor, I object to this display." Richard was on his feet with obvious anger on his face.

"Your Honor, I realize what we just did was unusual but I will now tie up loose ends if I may be allowed to continue," Mason said. Della held her breath, waiting for the judge to rule.

The judge was clearly irritated, "Mr. Mason, you have exactly five seconds to get to the point."

"Thank you, Your Honor. Mr. Morgan, I will repeat the question. Would it not be further fair to say that an individual that uses both hands for different activities would in an emergency, or in an instant where they did not have much time to think, use their primary hand?"

Morgan was still holding the baseball in his left hand. "Yes, Mr. Mason. If one did not have time to think one would more than likely use their primary hand."

"Mr. Morgan, one last question. Which is your primary hand?" Mason asked.

Morgan smiled as he looked down at the baseball in his left hand, raised the ball in the air and said, "My left hand, Mr. Mason."

The courtroom broke out in chatter and whispers. "Order in the court," Judge Thatcher called out as he banged his gavel.

Richards put his hand over his face. _Damn that Mason_, he thought.

"Anything further, Mr. Richards?" the judge asked.

"No questions, Your Honor." Richards sat at his table looking very dejected.

Hamilton Burger was watching Richards. He had never seen a district attorney so mismatched to face the likes of Los Angeles's most effective criminal lawyer.

"Mr. Mason, call your next witness."

Della stood up, walked over to Perry. She whispered in his ear and then sat down.

"Mr. Mason, call your next witness," the judge repeated.

"Your Honor, something has come up that requires my attention. I have to leave the courtroom but Mr. Burger will take over for me." Mason waited for the judge.

"Alright, then Mr. Burger, call your next witness."

As Perry left the courtroom Hamilton Burger stood up and said, "The defense calls Bill Thompson to the stand."

After Thompson was seated, Burger asked him, "Please refresh the jury with your name and occupation."

"My name is Bill Thompson and I work for Whitmore Inc. as a security guard."

Burger remained standing at the defense table. "In previous testimony you stated you saw the defendant leave the warehouse the night of the murder, is that correct?"

Thompson answered with confidence, "Yes sir, that is correct."

"Where were you standing when you saw the defendant come out?"

Thompson answered, "In the shadows at the end of the warehouse."

"How far away from the defendant were you standing?" Hamilton asked next.

"About 25 feet."

"Do you wear glasses for visual correction, Mr. Thompson?" Burger continued.

"Yes, but I don't wear them at night because of the glare."

"Then how can you be sure it was the defendant that came out of the warehouse?" Burger asked.

"There is a light at the top of the warehouse that lights up that door. He was standing under it."

Burger walked toward the stand. "How high would you say that building is?"

"About a story and a half, I would guess."

"So you would like us to believe that without your glasses, under a light that is a story and half high, you can be positive the man was Scott Whitmore?" Burger said.

"Yes sir."

"Your Honor, I would like to conduct an experiment. If it would please the court I would like to dim the lights with only the light over the door entering the courtroom. It is not a story and a half high but Mr. Thompson is not wearing his glasses at this moment. I would like to know if he can identify a man standing under that light. We have chosen someone that anybody in the city of San Francisco would recognize," Burger told the judge.

"Your Honor, I object. It seems Mr. Burger has developed Mr. Mason's taste for turning courtrooms into a circus." Richards was on his feet, not attempting to hide his anger.

"Mr. Burger, I intend to agree with the district attorney." Thatcher looked at Burger.

"Your Honor, Mr. Thompson has openly admitted he requires correction to his vision which he was not wearing that night. He also claims he could identify the defendant under one small light a story and a half in the air. The defense has the right to question his ability to do so under those circumstances," Burger argued.

Richards was nearly shouting, "For cripes sake, Burger, he was able to describe him well enough for a police artist to sketch his likeness."

"Your Honor, that sketch may be a decent likeness but the jaw is not the same as the defendant's and the forehead is more prominent in the picture than you actually see on the defendant. It could be argued that the man in the sketch only resembles the defendant. If there was that much difference in the sketch, the defense submits that he may not have seen the defendant at all but someone who looks like him. The defense should be allowed to test his ability to identify a man under similar circumstances," Burger argued further.

"The defense does have a point, Mr. Richards. I am going to allow this demonstration," the judge ruled. "Bailiff, prepare the courtroom."

The lights in the courtroom were dimmed. The door to the courtroom opened and a man entered…in a wheelchair. He remained under the light.

"Mr. Thompson, can you identify that man?" Burger asked him.

Richards smiled. _Why would they pick him? He could easily be identified_.

Thompson laughed. "Everyone in this courtroom knows who that man is. That's Chief Robert T. Ironside."

Burger walked over to the witness stand and looked Thompson in the eye. "Are you absolutely sure that is Chief Robert T. Ironside?"

"Of course I'm sure. Everyone knows who he is," Thompson said with confidence.

"Are you sure that isn't just someone who looks like Chief Robert T. Ironside?" Burger asked again.

"No, I am telling you I am as sure that that man is Chief Robert T. Ironside as I am the defendant was the man that came out of the warehouse."

Richards suddenly had a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Alright, Mr. Thompson, we will accept that you are as sure that the man in the back of the room is Chief Ironside as much as you are sure the defendant was the man that came out of the warehouse. Chief Ironside, will you please come forward?"

At that moment "Chief Robert T. Ironside" stood up, got out of his wheelchair and walked to the front of the courtroom.

The courtroom broke out in absolute pandemonium!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 It's Starting to Make Sense

13.1

"Objection! Your Honor, Mason has turned this court into a circus," Richards shouted, trying to be heard over the noise of the excited crowd in the courtroom.

"Order in the Court," Judge Herman Thatcher shouted as he tried to regain control of his courtroom. He banged his gavel down on the bench in front of him. "Order in the Court," he continued over the noisy crowd.

"I want to see both counsels in my chambers immediately," he shouted. "Bailiff, clear the courtroom if order is not restored."

John Richards, Perry Mason (aka Robert T. Ironside) and Hamilton Burger followed Thatcher into the judge's chambers. All three attorneys took seats in front of Judge Thatcher's desk.

"Mr. Mason, you have a lot of explaining to do," he said.

Perry sat in his chair, peeling the facial padding off his face that was intended to fill it out to match the slightly heavier Ironside. He reached under his suit jacket and pulled out some padding that was intended to do the same. "Your Honor, the defense apologizes for the disruptions our demonstration caused but it was necessary to discredit Mr. Thompson's testimony. If there had been another way to do it we certainly would have done so. Sir, our client is not guilty of this crime. He was identified by a man who is in need of visual correction which he was not wearing. A light over the door which was a story and a half high in the air was the only aide that Thompson had to see the face of the man leaving the warehouse. We have just proven Thompson couldn't be certain it was our client as he could not even identify me, a close look-alike of San Francisco's Chief Robert Ironside. In fact he insisted I was Chief Ironside," Perry said.

"Mr. Mason, I am well aware of your reputation for flair in the courtroom in Los Angeles but this is San Francisco. The next time you have something like this planned, I insist on being told in advance. I will decide whether or not you will be allowed to do so. I let the baseball bit go by but this was going too far." Thatcher knew he had to scold Mason for the benefit of John Richards but he could not help but admire the ingenuity of this very talented attorney. It was no wonder he was in such big demand across the country.

Just then there was a knock on the chambers door. "Your Honor, I am sorry for bothering you but Chief Ironside is here and insists on seeing you," his aide said. "He would like both counsels present. What shall I tell him?"

Thatcher sighed. "Tell the chief to come in."

The door opened and Chief Robert Ironside wheeled his chair into the room. "Thank you for seeing me, Your Honor."

Judge Thatcher offered an outstretched hand and shook Ironside's hand. "Robert, it's always a pleasure."

"I want to apologize for my intrusion. However, I felt it necessary to come and keep you from tarring and feathering Mr. Mason before throwing him out of town," Ironside said with amusement. "I knew of his little demonstration and gave him the go-ahead to borrow one of my wheelchairs. Your Honor, I have plenty of reason to believe Mr. Mason's client did not commit the crime for which he is accused. I am asking for your indulgence as we are very close to breaking this case wide open."

Thatcher looked at Ironside. "Thank God, the sooner we can send Mr. Mason home the better."

Hamilton Burger grinned and said, "I was hoping that you might keep him."

Thatcher turned his attention to Burger. "Not a snowball's chance in hell, counselor," he said with a slight smile on his face.

"Well then how about an even-steven trade, Mason for Ironside," Burger offered. Thatcher could not hold it together any longer. He exploded in laughter and was immediately joined by Burger, Ironside and Mason himself. The only one not laughing was John Richards.

"I am glad you all find this so amusing. I don't share Chief Ironside's opinion. The display I just witnessed in court was disgusting. I would like to go back to court. I believe we have a good case against Whitmore." Richards was livid.

Judge Thatcher shook his head in disbelief. "John, you do not have a case. Were you in the same courtroom as the rest of us? Mason has effectively blown your case out of the water on the first day of the defense's presentation. Your eye witness has been rendered useless since he insisted Mason was Chief Ironside and was as sure of that as he was of his identification of Whitmore. You have a left-handed man whose right-handed prints were found on the murder weapon, a man who had a bump on his head as big as a golf ball. Mr. Mason here is going to bring in the attending physician to the stand who will claim the man was clobbered with a blunt instrument, probably the butt of the murder weapon which was then more than likely placed into his right hand to plant the prints. Claiming Whitmore could shoot right handed is not going to hold water. Mason took care of that with a primary hand and a baseball. There is so much reasonable doubt in this case no jury anywhere in the United States would convict this man. And when we walk back into the courtroom knowing the talent of this man, he is going to build a very good case that Whitmore was framed. At that point if he decides to call for a dismissal I will be rather inclined to give it to him."

"I am not going to ask for a dismissal, Your Honor," Mason chimed in.

Thatcher looked at Mason in disbelief. "Why in the world not?"

"Your Honor, there is still a murderer out there. If we dismiss this case he may decide to disappear. This could be our only chance at bringing the real killer to justice. Chief Ironside and I have a plan to force this man out into the open. We must continue this case to keep him off guard," Mason said.

"Mr. Mason, most attorneys would call for a dismissal and run," Thatcher said to him.

"I am not most attorneys, Your Honor," Mason told him.

Thatcher smiled, his admiration for this famous lawyer just took another tick upwards.

Ironside, who was looking at Perry Mason, made a face, reached over and pulled a section of facial padding off Mason's face. He reached under his suit jacket and pulled the padding from the opposite side Mason had done. "And you're no Robert T. Ironside either," he ranted. "Why did you use so much padding? I am not that heavy!" he growled at Mason. Everyone roared with laughter.

When the laughter died down, Chief Ironside pulled a paper from his suit jacket. "Herman, I would like a wire tap on these phone numbers."

Thatcher looked at the numbers. "Robert, this number is one right in the police department itself, is it not?"

"That's right. I do not want the officer to know we are onto him. I want him to lead us right to the man who is responsible for this," Ironside said. "I would also like to ask you to be available for search warrants for the next day or so. May I call you at home if the need arises?"

"Of course, Robert. Anything else?"

"Yes, tell Mason to get those gray highlights out of his hair. The next thing you know he is going to want to keep my wheelchair," Ironside quipped.

Laughter broke out once again.

Thatcher stood up and took charge. "I suggest we go back into the courtroom. Hopefully the natives are over the shock of the miracle they just witnessed. Thompson will return to the stand. Mr. Mason, you can finish questioning him. John can cross examine and then we will adjourn for the day."

"One last thing. Mr. Mason, when this is over, I want you to go quietly back to Los Angeles. And if you ever get the inkling to defend another client in San Francisco I am going to order Chief Ironside to find some reason to throw your hide in his jail," grinned Judge Thatcher.

Mason got up to leave. "You're a little late. He's already threatened me with that." Perry returned the grin.

13.2

Everyone returned to court. Chatter started immediately when Mason and Ironside came in together.

Judge Thatcher banged his gavel to call for order in his courtroom. The room became immediately quiet.

"We will now resume this case. If there are anymore interruptions such as we have just experienced, I will order the bailiff to clear the courtroom and this trial will continue with no observers. Mr. Thompson, please return to the stand."

Bill Thompson returned to the stand. "Mr. Thompson, I remind you, you are still under oath. Mr. Mason, you or Mr. Burger may resume your examination."

Perry Mason stood and approached the witness stand. "Mr. Thompson. I ask that you take a good look at Chief Ironside sitting in the front row and then do the same with me."

Thompson looked between the two men.

"Do you see the resemblance between us?" Perry asked him.

Thompson looked at Ironside again, back to Mason and said, "Yes sir. It is quite shocking actually. The resemblance is amazing. You two could be twin brothers."

Mason looked Thompson straight in the eyes. "Now Mr. Thompson, can you be absolutely sure that it was the defendant, Scott Whitmore, that you saw come out of that warehouse?"

Thompson looked at Robert Ironside and back to Mason. "No sir. I can only say it was someone that resembled the defendant. I am no longer sure it was the defendant."

A gasp escaped the collective crowd who understood the impact of Thompson's admission.

"Your witness, Mr. Richards," Perry said.

Richards approached Thompson. "Mr. Thompson, just before Mr. Mason's demonstration you were positive the defendant was the one who came out of that warehouse. Now you are saying you cannot be sure? Were you influenced by Mr. Mason's courtroom trickery?"

Hamilton Burger was up immediately. "Objection, Mr. Richards himself is trying to influence the witness by insinuating Mr. Mason tried to trick him when the entire demonstration was intended to test his ability to positively identify a man under similar circumstances."

Although the judge knew that Mason had certainly used a bit of trickery, Thompson was unable to tell the difference between Perry Mason and Robert Ironside, two men who looked alike. Therefore Mason was within his rights to question if Thompson could tell the difference between Whitmore and someone who looked like him under the conditions that existed. "Objection sustained. Watch yourself, counselor," he warned Richards.

Richards was silent for a minute then said, "Were you or were you not influenced by Perry Mason?"

"No sir, I do not think so. I figure if I could mistake Mr. Mason for Chief Ironside then I could have mistaken a guy who looked like Whitmore for him. I don't want to send a man to jail if I am not sure." Thompson sounded very sincere.

Perry held back a smile. Richards should learn to leave well enough alone.

Frustrated, Richards walked back to his table and muttered, "No further questions."

Thatcher looked at Perry. "Any re-direct, Mr. Mason?"

Perry looked up. "No, Your Honor."

Judge Thatcher banged his gavel down on the bench. "Then we will adjourn until 10:00 tomorrow morning at which time the defense will continue."

Richards walked over to Perry Mason. He said with all the disgust he could muster, "Of all the dirty tricks. I have always heard how great you are, Mason. The truth is you just use cheap courtroom parlor tricks to confuse and muddy the waters. You're nothing. You don't deserve your hotshot lawyer reputation. You won't get away with this. I'll get the conviction."

Refusing to take the bait Perry smiled and said, "Excuse me, I must be going." He stuffed the papers on the table into his briefcase and took Della's arm. "Let's go."

Perry walked up to Ironside. "Chief, I wanted to thank you for coming in to smooth things over with Judge Thatcher. I expected a much harder time than we got. I suspect it was because of the respect the judge has for you that we didn't get it."

Chief Ironside smiled. "He had to give you a hard time but I suspect he was impressed with your…what did you call it, demonstration? I heard it brought down the house."

Della said, "You should have seen Hamilton. Perry, I think we will make a defense attorney out of him yet!"

Burger frowned. "I am surprised the judge could not see my pant leg shaking. No thanks, Della. I don't know how Perry pulls this off. It's just too nerve-wracking. The only thing I can say is it is much more fun watching him do it to someone else for a change."

Everyone laughed heartily. Ironside turned his wheelchair around as Mark approached. "Do you think you can whip us all up some dinner, Mark?"

"Sure, what would you like?" Mark said.

"What have we got?" Ironside questioned.

"Chili, chili or chili," Mark said with a straight face. Ironside grinned.

Perry laughed. "I'll take chili but I am not sure if we can get Lt. Tragg to come for dinner."

"Well, are we going to stand around here all night or get some dinner?" Ironside grumbled. "Oh and Perry, I want my chair back."

13.3

He walked across the narrow catwalk bridge that led to the room the containers were stored in. He went inside. The other man was counting the containers. Down below the catwalk were five unmarked trucks outside of several storage rooms on both sides. The younger man said to the older man, "Why in the hell don't we get these out of here now?"

The older man looked at him and said, "There is no way we can right now. Ironside has this city crawling with police looking for these containers and those trucks. We can't move them until it cools down."

"I say now is the time. After what happened in court today Whitmore will not be taking the fall. Mason is going to get him off. This is a nightmare. I told you we should have dumped the body somewhere. Framing Whitmore was a mistake. Now Ironside has this city bottled up."

The older man turned to him and said, "Which is exactly why we can't move them right now. Ironside knows about the trucks. They would never make it out of town. Your mistake was not taking Martin out in Los Angeles. You allowed him to follow us here. Now we have all these drugs and we can't get them out. We are not making one dime with them sitting here."

The young man became angry. "How the hell was I supposed to know he would come here? You are quick to point out about what you think are my mistakes but what about yours? Why in the hell did you pick San Francisco? You of all people knew Ironside's reputation. He's a bulldog. He never lets go. The man isn't stupid. He WILL eventually find them if we don't get them out of here. I would much rather have dealt with the Los Angeles police than Ironside."

"Stop panicking. We will get them out when the heat is off. With Perry Mason in town this trial is causing a lot of publicity and pressure is being brought to bear on Ironside by the city council. All we have to do is hold off Ironside long enough for the city council to get impatient enough with him to take him off the case. He is the only one we have to worry about."

"Wrong, we have to worry about Mason as well. He brought people of his own here to investigate this. After today it is obvious he is working with Ironside. No way he would have put on that little show without Ironside's approval. You forget I was in Los Angeles and I know HIS reputation. He doesn't stop at getting his client off. He is also a bulldog. He finds the person responsible. This has gotten way out of hand."

The older man was becoming impatient. "Just do as you are told and let me worry about Ironside and Mason. We have the perfect cover for this place."

13.4

All those involved in the case sat around a large table eating chili and drinking imported beer. "Bob, it is about time you got something in here besides bourbon," Perry said.

"I got tired of you drinking all my bourbon, Perry. The beer may be imported but it was cheap," grinned Ironside.

Lt. Tragg looked up from his chili. "If you are going to insist on serving this stuff, you could at least serve Maalox with it. Chief, you must have an ironclad stomach to eat this. How much chili pepper did you put in this anyway?"

Mark spoke up, "You don't want to know."

Hamilton chuckled. "You know, you should have seen the look on Richards' face when Perry stood up and walked away from that wheelchair. I thought he was going to have a heart attack." Everyone laughed.

Ironside snorted. "Obviously Mr. Thompson needs to wear visual correction."

Della, who was sitting between Perry and Ironside, put a hand on Chief Ironside's shoulder. "If I had not known what was going on I would have sworn it was you, Chief. You two don't seem to grasp the uncanny resemblance between you."

Hamilton addressed Ironside. "There wasn't a person in that room that didn't think Perry was you, Chief…that is until he stood up. Then it became obvious it was Perry. Everyone in this town has been talking about how the two of you look so much alike. It is all over the news, showing Perry over and over again standing up and walking to the front of the courtroom. I don't think your own mother could have been able to tell the difference."

"You mean the chief had a mother?" Ed quipped. The room exploded in laughter.

Ironside looked at Ed and said, "Of course I had a mother, Patrolman Brown."

Burger said with amusement, "Sorry Ed, I didn't mean to get you demoted."

"Everyone around here gets demoted at least once a week," Eve added. Everyone started laughing again.

Paul Drake, who had said nothing until now, finally spoke up. "I see the resemblance but it doesn't stop at looks. Both are workaholics. Neither of them sleeps or lets the rest of us sleep for that matter. Both overwork and underpay their staffs. Neither one can seem to tell time. Both want results yesterday. Neither one ever gives us time off. But most importantly both have earned our love and respect, and if any of us were ever in trouble we would all want them both on our side. So I propose a toast." Paul raised his glass and the others followed. "To the best lawyer and detective this side of the Atlantic Ocean. May their egos never be in the same city again!"

Everyone laughed and drank.

Ironside turned serious. "Lieutenant, what did you and Eve find out at Whitmore's warehouses?"

"The inventory of at least two of the warehouses did indeed have some extra boxes that are not listed on the company manifest," Lt. Tragg told everyone.

Eve added, "Both of those warehouses had boxes of containers, exact duplicates of the ones we have been looking for. We also found boxes of small plastic bags."

"The plastic bags of course are used to package the heroin in order to market it," Della said.

"That's right, Della. And there were at least a couple hundred boxes filled with those small bags between the two warehouses. Oh Chief, all the containers were labeled with the name 'Armada'. There is no doubt this is the same as what was in Los Angeles and what Whitmore described at the warehouse here in San Francisco," Lt. Tragg told everyone.

Ironside was silent for a moment. "Paul, did you have any luck finding any other warehouses rented under Whitmore's company?"

Paul shook his head. "No Chief, I spent the entire day running down leads and came up empty-handed. The warehouses that have been rented since this story broke are accounted for. All have legitimate owners, none of which are Whitmore's company. Only one of them does not list the owners. It is in the name of the Doll House. The company stores and ships dolls. The kind that are for looks, not to play with. They range anywhere from a foot to three feet high. I took a trip out there but it was after the hours of business listed on the door. I'll check it out tomorrow."

Ironside tapped his pencil on the pad in front of him. "Paul, you and Lt. Tragg have men working on the Los Angeles end. Is there anything new on that?"

Lt. Tragg spoke up first. "The body of the man that was found dead is Officer Pete Mitchell who was working in the evidence room both times Scott Whitmore was arrested for possession of heroin. We suspect his body was moved to LA possibly because the killer did not think the LAPD would identify him. Since we knew he was missing on this end we simply had the boys check his fingerprints which were on file here. He had no identification on him when they found him."

Paul was sitting on the edge of the desk with his arms folded. "We have run down the names of the owners of the Armada trucking company but they were phony. The company is no longer operating in Los Angeles. I suspect when they busted Griffith, who was obviously connected to Armada, they moved their operation here. I don't think there is much more to be found out at that end."

"I think we have to concentrate on finding where they are storing those containers," Perry said. "It has to be here somewhere. They can't get it out of town. The chief has every exit out of the city covered. They sure cannot use those white box trucks to move it. They would be stopped immediately," Perry offered.

Sgt. Brown poured himself another glass of beer. "I don't think they will try to move them out right now at all. It is just too high risk. I agree with Perry. They are stored somewhere in or around the city. But is there a chance they are not using a warehouse?"

"No," Ironside said. "They used them in Los Angeles and here. They are just going to put them in some warehouse that has legitimate stock and somewhere they believe we won't look. They will use a warehouse."

"We just can't issue search warrants for every storage place in town," Della said. "One of those seemingly legitimate storage companies is not storing legitimate products. How do we find them?"

The door burst open and Carl Reese walked in the door. He walked over to the chief. "Chief, take a look at this." He dropped a report down in front of Ironside. "Phone calls were made from Officer Mitchell's cell phone. Notice all these calls were made to the same place and same person. They were all made at the time the camera quit in the evidence room. Take a look, Chief."

Ironside took the report. He looked up at Carl. "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive, Chief. Read further. I got a court order through your office to check the cell phone records of Office Martinez. He has been making calls to the same individual."

Ironside turned the pages and continued reading. "Perry, take a look at this." Mason walked over to Ironside and took the report from him and started reading. Della walked over to him and began reading the report beside him.

"Chief, this is it. This is the connection we have been looking for. This connects Mitchell and Martinez to the Armada Trucks and possibly to the one responsible for the murder of David Martin, Peter Mitchell and the trafficking of heroin both in Los Angeles and here in San Francisco." Perry looked at Ironside.

"Knowing it and proving it are two different things," Ironside said. "Right now all this proves both of them have been communicating with the same man. I think we will find he will have a very good explanation for talking to them. I would bet a year's salary that he would claim they were moonlighting when not working here at the department and he had no idea what they were up to. We have no concrete proof HE is involved."

"Could we not figure which of the two men is the weakest and start leaning on him?" Sgt. Brown asked.

Ironside shook his head. "No Ed. I don't want to tip any of them off with what we know. There is another way. Was Whitmore's place dusted for prints, Ed?"

Sgt. Brown understood where his boss was going with this. "You figure George Williams was the one who actually planted the evidence there?"

"He had been in Whitmore's house many times. He knew the layout. He probably is the one who created the door through the crawl space, into the basement and up through the utility room. Perry, you need to talk to Whitmore before you leave here tonight and find out if he knew about those doors, especially the one under the carpeting. Find out just how well he did know that house."

Ironside continued, "Ed, get the fingerprint crew over there in the morning and check that passageway into the house. We have got to tie Williams to that house. Paul, you, Eve and Lt. Tragg find that warehouse. Hamilton and Perry will go back into court and keep the trial going. Perry, that is where I believe this thing is going to come tumbling down around their ears. We may not be completely able to prove it but you are going to have to convince them and break them down on the stand. You've done it before."

"Ok, everyone take the rest of the night off and relax. We start fresh tomorrow. We must find that warehouse and tie all of this together. Perry, that night off doesn't apply to either of us. Mark got a hold of Councilman Martin and he is coming here at 9:00. Alright, everyone get out of here and enjoy your evening."

Everyone left except for Perry, Della and Carl Reese. "Chief, you did not include me in any of the plans for tomorrow," Carl said.

"That is because I want you to stick to Martinez like glue. Check those phone taps and follow him wherever he goes. Remember Carl, he's a cop. So make sure he doesn't spot the tail. If you need more men pick ones we know we can trust. Your boss will loan them to us."

"Got it Chief, I will keep you informed," Carl called out over his shoulder as he started to leave.

"And Lieutenant, good job," Ironside said with a stone face.

"I am back to lieutenant again, huh," Carl said with amusement.

"Don't get too comfortable with it Reese, I could change my mind anytime," Ironside called out.

Carl laughed and headed out.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Closing In

14.1

Perry and Della sat at the table with Robert Ironside. Della looked back and forth between the two men. Neither of them spoke. Perry took a swallow of beer and smiled at Della with an intimacy that Ironside did not need much observation powers to notice. Finally he said, "Why do the two of you keep your relationship hidden? You are both single adults." He continued to watch both of them with the well-known Ironside piercing glare.

Both Della & Perry were embarrassed by Ironside's direct question into their private lives. They looked at one another searching each other's eyes for an answer to give Ironside. Perry spoke up, "It is complicated, Bob. Della is my secretary. We already have the gossip magazines following us around and printing gossip about us. We are discreet about our private life but they are always speculating about us…"

"Then cut them off at the knees," Ironside interrupted gruffly. "You obviously love each other. Get married. Who gives a damn that Della is your secretary? Do you really think you would be the first man to marry his secretary? There is no reason you could not still work together. You are compatible on the job now. Why would it be any different if you were married? By sneaking around you fuel their fire. Admit your feelings openly. Get married, live together and work together. You're a perfect team. Stop worrying about what everyone else thinks." As Perry began to open his mouth to say something, Ironside cut him off, "And don't tell me it would affect your practice. That's an excuse not to face the relationship on both your parts. You are one hell of an attorney, Perry. People come to you because you are the best there is and they will still come to you if Della is Mrs. Perry Mason." He looked down away from Perry and Della, softened his usual boisterous voice. "Look, this is really none of my business but sometimes I just have to say what I think…especially when I think my friends are making mistakes with their lives."

Della smiled, "Chief…"

Ironside interrupted her and the boisterous tone returned. "Della, stop using my title. My friends use my first name," he grumbled.

"Alright, Robert," Della said. "Since we are being so personal, suppose you tell us why you have never remarried since you lost your wife and please don't use that chair as an excuse," Della said in a tone that did not allow any avoidance of her question. As she watched Robert Ironside, it was obvious she hit a nerve.

"There has been a woman since my wife died. Her name was Barbara. She worked as a nurse's aide at St. Mary's Hospital where I was taken after I was shot. She had been found beaten and taken to that very same hospital where she later went to work. She had lost her memory. We eventually became very close. She did not care about this chair," Ironside said as he raised an eyebrow at Della. "Someone was trying to kill her and I had to find out who she was in order to find out why she was the target of a killer. In the process I found out she had a husband and two little girls. Even though she did not remember her husband, Vic, or the girls for that matter, she could not turn her back on those girls and I would not have wanted her to. She went back to him. Later when one of the girls was kidnapped, I went to her to help get her little girl back. Against my advice she took the money to the kidnapper herself and fell from a cliff. The fall brought back her memory but erased all memory of me," Ironside said quietly.

"You still love her, don't you?" Della asked as she saw the pain in Ironside's blue eyes.

"Yes," was all Ironside said. He waited a moment and then continued, "My job is hectic and it takes up most of my time. My family is Ed, Eve and Mark. I enjoy them and I enjoy the rest of my friends and my life. I have no complaints. Maybe someday…," he trailed off.

All three remained quiet for a while. Della could feel Ironside's pain. She placed a hand over his and said, "Well, you have two more friends."

Ironside looked at Della and smiled.

There was a knock on the door. Ironside raised his voice and called out, "Come in."

Councilman David Martin Sr. opened the door and entered. He stopped suddenly when he saw Perry Mason. "You did not say anything about Mason being here, Ironside."

Perry stood up and walked over to Martin. "We have known each other a long time. You should know I would not have taken Whitmore's case if I did not believe he was innocent. David and I were friends. I want his killer found as much as you do. You can help us do that."

Martin came forward, looked at Ironside and Mason. "What do you want from me?"

Ironside studied him closely. "The case against Whitmore has been virtually destroyed by Mr. Mason. What little is left of it he will take care of in the next couple of days."

"Naturally, Jim Whitmore doesn't care whether or not his son is a killer. He just wants to save his political career. So he hired the best and yes, Perry, I concede you are the best but I still believe Whitmore killed David."

Perry pulled out a chair. "Please, Dave, sit down."

Martin looked at Perry Mason. His eyes burned into Perry's piercing blue stare. He walked over to the chair Mason offered and sat down. "Alright, I am listening."

Ironside pulled out a report. "I would like you to read this." Ironside's eyes never left David Martin as he read the report.

When Martin had completed the report, his eyes closed and remained that way for several minutes. Ironside and Mason waited patiently. Martin looked up. "You have not reported any of this to Commissioner Randall, have you? We have been questioning him and he has told nothing of this to us," Martin said.

Ironside took the report from Martin. "Dennis is kept informed regarding all investigations in this office. I asked him to keep this one completely confidential."

"If you know these two cops are involved then please explain why you have not arrested them." Martin stood up and started pacing.

"I cannot yet prove they killed your son," Ironside said. "Perry and I have a plan to draw them out into the open. We need your help in order to do that."

"Exactly what is it you think I can do?"

Perry watched Martin get up and pace back and forth. He addressed him. "We want you to hold a press conference. You must be convincing. You will inform the press you have found out that Chief Ironside knows who is involved in the killing of your son and he has been keeping it from the press and from the city council. You will tell them about the containers of drugs and tell the press that Chief Ironside is closing in on where these containers and drugs are located. Tell them that every storage unit and building that is large enough to house those trucks is being checked and it is a matter of time before we come up with the right one. They are not going to leave a multi-million dollar drug business behind. They will be forced to move the drugs and those trucks. The two cops will have to make a move."

Martin looked at Ironside and sat back down. "What if they just cut their losses and run?"

"They can't. We know who they are and they are not going to get out of this city," Ironside boomed. "They are not going to leave millions of dollars behind."

"And when do you want to do this?" Martin asked the two men.

"By the end of the week," Ironside said.

"Alright, I will cooperate," Martin said.

"Good." Mason offered his hand to Martin. "It is important that no one knows about this until we are ready. Understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

After Martin had left, Ironside and Mason sat quietly drinking their beer. "What do you think Bob?" Perry asked him.

"I think we are about to drive our killer out of hiding," Ironside said.

"Let's just hope everything goes according to plan. Paul and Lt. Tragg better find that warehouse," Della said, "or this whole thing will go up in smoke."

"Bob, can I help you retire?" Perry asked his friend.

"Thanks, but I want to stay up and think for a while. Mark will be home shortly. Perry, remember I have agreed to this because you promised me you will back off if I say so. I will not let you put yourself in danger," Chief Ironside said.

"After you tore my plan apart not much of this resembles what I brought to you. This is more your plan than mine," Perry argued.

"It's our plan and we are in this together. Now you two get out of here."

14.2

Back at the hotel, Perry and Della sat curled up on the couch together. Perry had his arm around Della. She had her head tucked under his chin. "Were you watching Robert when he was talking about Barbara? Do you know about the woman he was talking about?"

"I remember when she was originally hospitalized. It was in the papers. They ran articles trying to find her family. No one came forward at the time. I did not know she had been working at St. Mary's. She must have helped him through the trauma of the shooting and finding out he would never walk again," Perry said. "That must have led to him falling in love with her."

"Chief, you don't suppose when this is all over that we could invite him to Los Angeles. We know lots of single women. We could introduce him to one of them."

Perry put his head back and laughed. "The incurable romantic! Quite frankly Della, I doubt Bob needs or wants anyone to find him a woman. He is quite capable of doing it himself and he will when he's ready if that is what he wants. I don't think we know him well enough to start meddling in his love life."

Della poked Perry in the ribs for his expressing amusement at her suggestion. It just made him laugh harder. "Watch it, counselor," she said in a low sultry voice. "Remember, he looks like you, sounds like you. I could hook up with him and never have to miss those blue eyes or jaw line dimples."

Perry could not control his laughter. Della sat back, watched him with amusement and a slight smile. When Perry finally got himself under control he said, "You would never leave me."

"Really, counselor? What makes you so sure?"

Perry cradled Della's chin with his hand and met her lips with his. After kissing her passionately, he broke the kiss and looked into her eyes. "That's why you will never leave me."

Della smiled, ran her finger down his long dimple and tapped his chin with her index finger.

14.3

The door to Ironside's office opened and Mark Sanger came in. "Chief, I'm back." Mark looked around and did not see his boss. That could only mean one thing. He walked over to the chief's favorite window and there sat his friend looking out over San Francisco. Mark sighed. It was going to be a long night. The chief was in one of those moods. "Chief?"

"Evening, Mark," Ironside said quietly.

Mark waited. His boss said nothing. He walked back to the kitchen pulled out two glasses and grabbed a bottle of bourbon. When he arrived back at the window he poured two glasses and handed one to the wheelchair-bound detective.

Ironside accepted the glass and took a drink without looking back at his aide. His thoughts drifted back to memories he tried to keep buried, but Della had brought them painfully to the surface.

Mark said nothing as he knew all the Chief wanted or needed was his company.

14.4

Perry, Della, Paul, Hamilton and Tragg sat in the dining room of the hotel. They were just finishing breakfast.

Tragg asked, "So did Martin go for Ironside's plan?"

"Yes, he did," Perry answered. "Now it is up to you guys to find that warehouse with those trucks. Hamilton and I will go back into court and start building the case that Whitmore was framed. But we can only keep this going for so long. You have to find that warehouse."

"We'll find it, Perry. Just stall in court as long as you can," Paul said.

Eve Whitfield walked into the room. "Morning, everyone."

Perry stood up, pulled another chair to the table and seated Eve between him and Paul. "Did you talk to Chief Ironside this morning, Eve?"

"Yes, I arrived early. He sent Ed out to Whitmore's place with a fingerprint crew. When he is done there, the Chief told him to join us," Eve told them.

"Paul stood up. Well then, why don't you and I get going? Ed can join Lt. Tragg when he is done at Whitmore's." Eve stood up and left with Paul.

Tragg shook his head. "Last night Ironside tried to poison me with that chili of his and today Drake gets to work with a pretty police woman and I get Brown."

Della, Hamilton and Perry began laughing. "Let's get going," Perry said.

14.5

Perry, Della and Hamilton entered the courtroom taking their places at the defense counsel table. Scott Whitmore was brought in and seated. John Richards had already entered the courtroom and was seated at the prosecutor's table.

"All rise," the bailiff announced.

"Is the defense ready to call their next witness?" Judge Thatcher asked Mason.

"Yes, Your Honor. We would like to call Dr. Bud Glenn to the stand," Mason called out.

Dr. Bud Glenn came forward, took the oath and sat down in the witness stand.

Hamilton Burger stood and approached the doctor. "Dr. Glenn, please tell the jury your name, your occupation and where you are currently employed."

Glenn turned toward the jury and did as he was asked.

"Dr. Glenn, did you have the occasion to treat the defendant?" Burger asked him.

"Yes sir, I did. I was called in by a Detective Edward Brown to treat a head wound on the back of Mr. Whitmore's head."

"Could you tell the court the nature of the wound?" Burger continued.

"Yes. He had a very large bump on the back of his head with a gash a little less than half an inch across."

"Could you tell the court what kind of weapon would have made this injury?" Burger questioned.

Richards stood up, "Objection. Calls for a conclusion."

"Sustained," came the response of Thatcher.

Burger walked over to the evidence table and picked up the murder gun and walked back to the witness stand. "Dr. Glenn, please examine this gun and then tell the court if the injury to the back of Mr. Whitmore's head would coincide with the butt end of the handle on this gun?" Burger waited, expecting an objection from Richards but did not get it. Richards was staring at the pad of paper in front of him.

Dr. Glenn accepted the gun, looked it over and then said, "Yes, it is possible the wound could have been made by the handle of a gun such as this."

Burger took the gun back and then said, "From the damage done to the defendant's skull, would you say the defendant would have been knocked unconscious by the blow?"

Richards called out, "Objection, calls for a conclusion."

Thatcher immediately responded, "I am going to allow the question."

"From the extent of the trauma to the back of Mr. Whitmore's head, I would say yes. He would have been rendered unconscious."

"Your witness," Burger said and then sat down beside Perry.

Richards remained seated. "Dr. Glenn, isn't it also possible the wound on the defendant's head could have been made by falling?"

Glenn squinted and then said, "It is possible but not likely due to the position of the wound on the defendant's skull."

"But it is possible, is it not?" Richards asked.

"Yes, it is possible," Glenn replied.

"Could you determine when the wound was inflicted?

"Sometime earlier in the evening. The wound was fairly fresh."

"Is it not possible that it could have happened in a struggle between Lt. David Martin and the defendant?"

Perry stayed seated but called out, "Objection, the witness was not there. He would have no way of knowing if the two men even struggled."

"Sustained."

"No further questions, Your Honor," Richards said.

"Any re-direct, Mr. Mason?" Thatcher asked.

"No, Your Honor," Mason said.

Thatcher turned to the witness and said, "You are excused."

The bailiff walked over to Judge Thatcher and whispered something in his ear.

Thatcher addressed the court, "Gentlemen, I have been informed that I have an emergency at home. This court is adjourned until 9:00 tomorrow morning."

Perry turned to Hamilton. "That's a break for us. That will give us a chance to get the results from Ed Brown's fingerprint crew. Let's head back to Ironside's office and see if we can help out there."

14.6

Sgt. Ed Brown and Lt. Arthur Tragg, with search warrant in hand, approached the office of the Jordan Trucking Company. "I don't know what this is all about," Wayne Jordan said. "We have nothing to hide Sgt. Brown. You are welcome to search all of the warehouses."

"Let's split up. You take that side, I'll take this side," Ed Brown told Lt. Tragg.

"Why is Ironside having us search this warehouse? Where is the connection to Whitmore's warehouse?" Tragg wondered.

"There isn't but there is a connection to the man the chief believes is behind this. He just doesn't know he has a connection to it. Let's get started," Brown said.

Lt. Tragg and Sgt. Brown headed for opposite sides of the warehouse.

14.7

Perry and Della entered Ironside's office. Hamilton had gone to see Scott Whitmore at Perry's request.

"What are you people doing here? You are supposed to be in court," Ironside bellowed out.

"The judge had an emergency at home. He adjourned court until tomorrow," Della told him.

"Well then, sit down. Carl Reese is on his way up here. We have had a development in the case." Ironside wheeled his chair into the kitchen.

Mark entered the room and moved immediately to his boss. "I'll get that, Chief." He took the coffee pot from Ironside who then wheeled his chair back to his guests.

Perry sat down beside Robert Ironside and inquired, "What development, Bob?"

At that moment Carl Reese entered the office/residence of Chief Ironside. "They will bring him up in a minute, Chief."

"Bring who up?" Perry asked.

"Officer Martinez," Carl Reese said. "I think you will all find this very interesting."

Perry and Della looked at each other and back to Ironside. "What's going on Bob?" Perry asked.

Ironside put his hand up. "Let's wait for them to bring in Martinez."

Mark brought over a pot full of coffee and went back for the mugs. As he finished pouring coffee for everyone Officer Martinez walked into Chief Ironside's office.

Martinez looked around the room at the people before him and then addressed Robert Ironside. "I was told you wanted to see me, Chief." Martinez eyed Ironside with worry.

"Sit down, Officer Martinez." Carl Reese walked up behind the officer and quickly removed his service revolver from his holster.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?" Martinez shouted.

Ironside watched him with a steely stone face disgust. He picked up a short report and threw it toward Martinez without saying a word. He continued to stare Martinez straight in the eye. Martinez was unable to withstand Ironside's glare and averted his eyes from San Francisco's most feared detective.

When Martinez did not pick up the report, Ironside did and pitched it toward Martinez's face. "Read it, Officer," he roared.

Martinez picked up the report and began reading. His face drained of all color. It was all the reaction Ironside required. "Book him, Carl."

As Reese started to reach for him, Martinez smashed his fist in Carl's face. He pulled a knife that had been concealed and went right for Ironside. Perry, moving as quickly as his large frame would allow, maneuvered in front of Robert Ironside to deflect the attack. Mark raced in and grabbed Martinez's arm. As soon as Perry was sure Martinez presented no further threat to Ironside he moved in to assist Mark. Ironside grabbed Della's hand and pushed her behind his wheelchair. "Stay there, Della" he barked.

Perry and Mark continued to struggle with the enraged officer. Suddenly all three men crashed to the floor. Carl had recovered and rushed over to them.

Ironside wheeled over to them as Della screamed, "Perry!"

"Carl, call an ambulance," Ironside roared as he held Della back.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 The Murderer is Identified

15.1

Carl Reese checked for a pulse in Martinez's neck. He looked over to Chief Ironside and shook his head. Ironside slammed his fist down on the table. "Damn it," he roared. He let go of Della who immediately moved to Perry's side.

"Perry!" Della put her arms around Perry, not thinking about her intimate display of concern.

"I'm alright, Della," Perry told her. "Mark, are you ok?" he asked.

"I'm ok," Mark told him.

"You saved my life, Perry. Since I have no desire to check out yet, thank you," the Chief told him sincerely.

Perry smiled and said, "That's what friends are for."

As Della separated from Perry, Ironside noticed blood on Della's dress. He rolled his wheelchair to Mason and opened his suit jacket. The right side of his shirt was soaked with blood. "Mark, get the first aid kit over here on the double and bring in some towels," the Chief ordered.

Perry noticed the horrified look on Della's face. "I'm alright, Della. It's a treatable wound. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Ironside picked up the phone, dialed and said, "Get that ambulance here now. We have a man with a stab wound. We will need the coroner here, but quietly. I don't want anyone to know the coroner is here." Within a few minutes Ironside's office was crawling with police and medical personnel.

As the coroner pronounced Martinez dead, a paramedic was working on Perry Mason to stem the flow of blood from his wound. "We need to get this man to the hospital. This will hold for the moment but this needs more than what I can do here."

Perry protested, "I can't leave here right now."

Della, who never left Perry's side, turned to Ironside, "Robert, I need your help here."

Hearing Della's plea, Ironside shouted to a young police officer, "Officer Wilton. You are to ride in the ambulance with Mr. Mason and see to it he arrives at the hospital for treatment. If he gives you any trouble arrest him, throw him in jail and bring the hospital's emergency personnel to sew him up in jail."

The confused young man who did not know Ironside well said, "On what charge, Chief?"

Ironside gave the officer a look that told him he was very close to guarding the local playground. "Yes Chief, I'll make sure he gets there," he quickly said.

The paramedics brought in a stretcher. "That is not necessary. I can walk," Perry said.

"Perry, get your tail on that stretcher now," Ironside bellowed, leaving Perry with no choice but not to argue further.

The paramedics rolled Perry out with Della and Officer Wilton right behind.

15.2

Hamilton Burger sat across from Scott Whitmore in the interrogation room. "Scott, we need to know just how well you knew George Williams."

Scott immediately answered Burger. "I met him through some friends. He was the one who provided me with drugs while I was using them. Once I got off the drugs I did not see him as often."

Hamilton pondered his next question. "How well did he know the layout of your house?"

"Pretty well. He crashed at my place for a while so he had a key. I did not restrict him. He could enter any room in the house. When he moved out he gave me back the key."

Burger leaned forward. "How long ago did he move into the house?"

Scott thought for a minute and said, "About a year ago."

"That coincides with when the trucks arrived here. How long ago did he move out of your house?"

Scott responded, "Maybe five or six months ago."

"Alright, Scott. We will see you in the morning," Burger told him.

"Mr. Burger, Mr. Mason is really a great lawyer, isn't he?" he asked.

Burger looked back at him and said, "You could not be in better hands." Burger turned and walked out the door.

15.3

Hamilton took the elevator to the attic office of Robert Ironside. When the elevator door opened, the hall was full of uniformed personnel. He hurried towards Ironside's office but was stopped at the door by a young policeman. "I am sorry, sir, but there has been a stabbing in Chief Ironside's office. I cannot let you go in right now."

From inside the office Ironside's voice boomed, "Let him in, Milt."

The police officer stepped aside and allowed Hamilton Burger to pass by him into the office. He looked down at the man on the floor, "Is that Officer Martinez?"

Mark walked over to him and said, "Yes, he went berserk when the Chief told Carl to arrest him. He pulled a knife and attacked Chief Ironside. Perry was able to get in between them while I tried to remove the knife from his hand. He joined me in trying to subdue him but somehow while struggling with him we all ended up falling to the floor. Martinez fell on the knife. We discovered Perry had been knifed while protecting the chief. They have taken him to the hospital for treatment. He will be alright."

"Thank god everyone is alright." He looked around. "Where's Della? Is she ok?"

"She's fine, Hamilton. She went to the hospital with Perry," Ironside informed him.

"This is not good. We were going to use Martinez to draw the killer out into the open." He turned to Robert Ironside and said, "I thought we were going to keep him under surveillance, not arrest him."

"The LAPD found the murder weapon used to kill Mitchell. Martinez's fingerprints were all over it and all over the vehicle Officer Mitchell was transported in after he was murdered. We have found a second set of prints as well in the car. They are being run against the data base to see if they are on file. Under the circumstances I had no choice but to book him on suspicion of murder. As soon as Lt. Tragg gets back I am sure we can get him to get his department to cooperate with us," Ironside said.

A revelation hit Ironside suddenly. "Carl, we have to find George Williams. If the killer finds out Martinez is dead he may try to tie up some loose ends."

"You mean he will kill Williams to keep him quiet," Carl said.

"I want Martinez's death kept quiet. If he gets to Williams, the only way Perry will be able to break him on the stand will be Martinez," Ironside told Carl.

"Chief, I don't get it. Martinez is dead. We can't use him to get to the killer," Carl said confused.

"You know that, I know that, but the killer doesn't know it," Ironside pointed out. "Spread the word that Martinez has disappeared."

"Ok, Chief, I will get right on it." With that Carl left Ironside's office.

15.4

"Is this place ever open?" Paul Drake wondered out loud. He and Eve were back at the warehouse, the 'Doll House'. "I cannot see in this place, the windows are too high. Eve, if I boost you up there, do you think you can try and look into the window?"

"I'll give it a try." Eve walked over to Paul who boosted her up until she was sitting on his right shoulder. "The windows are pretty dirty. Looks like dolls. There seems to be a catwalk back to the storage area. There are plenty of storage rooms on the opposite side from here. Paul, there's a truck, white, small box top type truck. We need to get in there."

"Call your boss, see if there is any way we can get a search warrant," Paul said.

"With what we have? Not a chance. We don't even know who owns this place. We can't ask for a search warrant because of a white truck." Eve got down off of Paul's shoulder.

"Let's try all the doors," Paul suggested. Paul and Eve walked around the entire warehouse and checked every door. They only found all of the doors were locked. "We should have had Perry with us. He always finds an open door."

Paul's cell phone rang. "Drake." He listened for a few minutes and said, "Alright Della, we are headed to the hospital right away. And Della, don't worry, he will be fine." Paul turned to Eve. "Perry's been stabbed. He's been taken to the hospital for treatment. I have to get over there. You can come if you like."

"What happened?" Eve asked with concern.

"He was protecting your boss from an attack by Officer Martinez. Apparently, Chief Ironside was arresting him for murder when he attacked him with a knife. Perry stepped between them to protect the chief. He was stabbed in the process. Before you ask, the Chief is fine but Martinez is dead. Do you want me to drop you off?"

"No, I'll go with you to the hospital," Eve told him. They headed back to Paul's rented car.

15.5

Paul and Eve arrived at the hospital emergency entrance. As soon as Paul spotted Della he went to her and took her in his arms. "Easy, Della. He'll be fine. Eve called Chief Ironside and he told her he would be alright with treatment. Have you heard anything yet?"

"No, not yet. They asked me to wait out here. They took Perry to a treatment room. What is taking them so long? He's been back there for an hour."

A nurse walked up to them and said, "Mrs. Mason, you may come back now. Your husband is doing fine." She smiled at Della, who did not correct her, then pointed the way.

Paul and Eve took seats in the waiting room as they watched Della leave with the nurse.

15.6

Della entered the treatment room. Perry was lying on the hospital bed reading a newspaper. He sat up and put it down as soon as Della walked over to him. Perry saw the worried look on Della's face and immediately pulled her close when she approached. "I'm alright. Don't you worry about me." Perry placed a kiss on her forehead. He could feel her trembling. Perry tightened his hold on her.

"I'm sorry, Perry. I was just so worried when I saw all that blood on your side." She placed her hand on his cheek.

"It is not as bad as it looks. I did not even realize Martinez knifed me until Bob pulled back my jacket. I did not feel it when it happened. I only knew I had to get in between Martinez and Bob. He was a sitting duck in that chair." Perry took Della's hand and lightly rubbed his thumb up and down her palm.

"I think you are underestimating him. From what I hear, he has done very well protecting himself in situations where he was in danger. I understand why you did what you did though. I am glad he was not harmed. I was really frightened for you," Della said with concern in her voice.

The doctor came into the room. "Now that we have you stitched up, Mr. Mason, we are ready to release you. I am going to give you some medication for pain. I also have to inform you that we have reported this injury to the police since I believe it is a knife wound."

"It is," Mason said, "and it happened at the police station so they already know about it."

A nurse walked into the room. "Doctor, Chief Ironside from the police department is outside and wants to know how Mr. Mason is doing? What would you like me to tell him?"

The doctor smiled. "Send the chief in, and there are two other people out there waiting for news on Mr. Mason. Let them in as well."

A few minutes later Chief Ironside wheeled his chair into the room followed by Paul, Eve and Mark. "Dr. Bivens, how are you doing?" Ironside greeted him with a hardy handshake.

"Hi Chief, it's been some time. How's your wrist? I assume it has healed completely."

"It's fine, Doctor. How's Mr. Mason doing?" Ironside asked him.

"He'll be fine. The wound was a bit deep and required several stitches but he will be fine. He should take it easy for a few days but I have been reading the papers so I figure I would be wasting my time telling him to do so."

"Can he be released then?" Ironside asked him.

"We are drawing up the paperwork now, Chief. Good luck Mr. Mason," Dr. Bivens said. He said goodbye to Ironside and left the room.

"Paul and Eve may have found the warehouse we have been looking for," Ironside told Mason and Della, "but we have to get in there. As soon as Ed gets back I will have him find out who is running it and decide how we want to proceed. In the meantime I want you to go back to your motel and take it easy for the rest of the day."

Perry opened his mouth to say something but Ironside cut him off. "Don't bother to argue with me, Perry," Ironside snapped in his usual gruff voice. "I have ordered a couple men to take you back to your room and stand outside your door. Don't force me to put you under house arrest."

"Sounds like what this is," Perry complained.

"Call it what you want. I now have reason to believe your life is in danger and I have no intention of letting anything happen to you in my city. Just stay in your room and relax. You and Della can come over for dinner if you would like. We'll talk then but for the duration of your stay in San Francisco I am assigning men to protect you. Don't bother to argue with me," he said in a tone that Perry knew would be as waste of time trying to change his mind.

"Eve, get a search warrant and get over to Martinez's apartment. Paul can go with you," Ironside told them.

"Perry, I'll talk to you later. I'm sure glad you are alright, buddy," Paul told him as he and Eve left.

"Mark, let's get out of here," his boss called out over his shoulder as he rolled out of the room.

Perry smiled as he put his blood-soaked shirt back on. "He did not have to come down here."

"I think he was concerned about you. He will never say it in so many words. I believe with Robert you have to read between the lines. I wonder what is going on that he thinks you are in danger," Della said.

"I am sure he will tell us tonight, that is if you are up to going to his place for dinner," Perry said.

"If you are then I am," she smiled. "Let's go back and relax. You better get a hold of Hamilton and go over tomorrow's witnesses."

Two uniformed police officers appeared at the door of the treatment room. "Mr. Mason, we have been assigned by Chief Ironside to protect you for the remaining of your stay in San Francisco. We will be working eight-hour shifts. Then the next two-man team will take over. We are here to take you back to your hotel to rest sir," one of the young men said.

"Officer, this is not necessary and I refuse to have bodyguards while I am here," Mason told them.

The young man smiled. "Sir, when Chief Ironside gives an order there is not a police officer in the entire San Francisco police department that questions it let alone ignores it. No offense, sir, but it doesn't matter to us what you want. It only matters what Chief Ironside wants. So if you will come with us, sir, we will take you back to your hotel."

"And if I refuse?" Perry said.

The young man smiled again. "Then Mr. Mason, I have been ordered by Chief Robert T. Ironside to put you under house arrest and take you to your hotel where you will not be allowed to leave until dinner tonight." The police officer could not resist a grin. "The Chief is accustomed to getting exactly what he wants, Mr. Mason. He is a very persuasive man."

Della chuckled. "Give it up Perry. This is Robert's town and he has an entire police force who is loyal to him."

Mason shook his head and looked at the young officer. "Alright, you win. I guess I am spending the rest of the day resting."

Both officers laughed. "Look on the bright side, Mr. Mason. Chief Ironside never gives us an entire day to just rest," the other officer said.

15.7

Sgt. Brown and Lt. Tragg completed their search of the Jordan Trucking Company. Both men walked back to the Sergeant's vehicle. Ed sat there for a moment and then said, "We now have those containers and plastic bags in two of Whitmore's warehouses and one of Jordan's warehouses. According to Jordan, this particular warehouse was rented by George Williams. There is no doubt he is in this up to his ears. We have to find him, Lieutenant. If we don't, the man behind this is going to kill him and we may never be able to prove he was calling the shots."

"Ed, have you seen my cell phone? It is not in my pocket," Tragg said.

"Is that it there in the tray by the gear shift?" Ed asked.

"That's it." Tragg picked up the phone. It showed three messages. He listened to his messages. His face became pale. "Ed, Perry has been knifed. He was taken to the hospital for treatment."

"What? How…Where?" Ed asked.

Lt. Tragg relayed the message he had received from Hamilton Burger. "Ironside ordered him to rest in his hotel for the rest of the day. Hamilton said your boss has assigned police officers around the clock to protect Perry. I don't get it. According to Hamilton's message Martinez attacked your boss, not Perry. Perry was only knifed because he was protecting Ironside. I wonder why he thinks Perry is in danger."

Ed started the car and moved out into traffic. "No sense in guessing, let's get back to the chief's office. I have to let him know what we found out."

15.8

Perry, Hamilton and Della sat in Perry's room at a table. "Perry, we have to call Ed Brown back to the stand. His discovery at Whitmore's home is going to help our case that Whitmore was framed," Hamilton said.

"Then we have to call Jordan. Ed and Arthur have definitely tied Williams to those containers. Jordan can identify Williams as the man who rented his warehouse. We can then tie him to Whitmore's house." Perry got up and started pacing.

Della watched her boss for a minute and said, "Perry, what is it?"

"Didn't Bob send someone to Martinez's apartment with a warrant?" Perry asked.

Della nodded. "Yes, he did. He also ordered Williams be picked up. We have not heard from him on the results. He will probably update us at dinner tonight."

Perry turned and looked at Della and Hamilton as if a light had just been turned on. "George Williams is the one that Bob Ironside is trying to protect me from."

"How do you know that Perry?" Hamilton asked.

"When he was on the stand he took a drink from the glass of water that is provided for each witness," Perry said.

"I remember," Della said. "He pulled out a napkin out of his pocket and wiped his face with it. Is that important Perry?"

Mason stood before them and said," Yes, and I can't believe I missed it when it happened."

"Well, are you going to let us in on it?" Hamilton asked.

"The napkin was from Ted's Bar. I remember the bald little man that appears on the napkin. He must think I will eventually figure it out. Bob keeps talking about bringing the killer out in the open but he already knows the killer was George Williams. He wants the guy who set this whole thing up. It must be part of the reason he ordered Williams picked up," Perry surmised.

Hamilton stood up, "If that is true then, Perry, we can get this case dismissed tomorrow."

Mason shook his head, "No Hamilton, we can't. Not if we want the man who was calling the shots. He knows Ironside will not rest until someone is punished for the killing of his Lieutenant." All of a sudden Perry shouted, "Good God!"

"What?" Della asked.

"Bob knows who that man is and so do I. I can't believe it…I just can't believe it!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 The Doll House Warehouse

16.1

Commissioner Dennis Randall entered Chief Robert T. Ironside's office. "Bob, will you mind telling me what the hell is going on? David Martin just held a news conference. He claims you know who the killer of his son is."

Ironside looked up from his paperwork. "Yes, I know who killed his son and it was not Scott Whitmore." Ironside returned his boss' stare.

"Then why have you not arrested him?" Randall demanded.

"I have quietly put out an APB on George Williams. I want him brought in alive. If our man gets to him before we do, our whole case could go up in flames."

Frustrated, Commissioner Randall demanded, "Bob, I want to know what is going on."

"At the moment, nothing. Perry and I worked up that news conference to draw our man out. We figured he would go after Martinez. He would be desperate enough to try to shut him up. Carl had him completely covered. Then his fingerprints showed up all over the murder weapon that killed Officer Mitchell, who was found in Los Angeles. Lt. Anderson demanded we arrest Martinez. You know what happened when we tried to do that," Ironside reminded him.

"Yes, of course. How is Mason?" Randall asked him.

"He's fine. He will be here shortly for dinner. Would you like to join us?" Ironside offered.

Randall calmed down. "No thanks, Bob. My wife is expecting me for dinner. Can you please tell me what is happening?"

Ironside handed him a report. "This is for your eyes only. No one is to see it. In fact I would appreciate it if it did not leave this office."

Randall read the report. Worry and concern on his face became obvious. "You of course have assigned men around the clock to protect Perry Mason."

"Of course, I have." Ironside said indignantly.

"What about yourself, Bob? You are under the same threat and there is absolutely no one around here," Randall pointed out.

"No one is going to try and come after me here," Ironside told him.

"And why not? It has happened before, you know. What about the young man that wanted to avenge his brother and tried to kill you while Eve, Ed and Mark were all out. Remember that night I tried to get you to go to a sporting event but you chose to stay here to watch a football game," Randall pointed out to him. "No, Bob, this is one time I am not going to let you bulldoze me." Randall picked up the phone and dialed. "Lieutenant, I want two men assigned to both elevator entrances to Chief Ironside's office. No one is to be allowed up here unless they are passed by Ironside himself. Is that clear?" He listened a moment and said, "Grab four officers and post them immediately. Then make arrangements around the clock until further notice."

"Dennis,…" Ironside began.

"Forget it, Bob. The men are there to stay. You are too important to the department for us to ignore a threat on your life. Besides, I am betting Mason complained and you did not pay any attention to his grumbling and I have no intentions of paying any attention to yours," Randall said.

Ironside relented. "Alright, I'll let you win this one."

Randall grunted a half laugh. "Like I told you once before, you are way ahead of me. Let me know when you pick up Williams."

16.2

Sgt. Brown and Lt. Tragg entered the police station and headed for the elevator door to the chief's office. They rode it to the attic floor and were met by two police officers. "Just a moment gentlemen," one of the uniformed officers said as he stopped them at the elevator door.

"Officer, step aside," Brown ordered.

"I am sorry Sgt. Brown but Commissioner Randall's orders are not to let anyone pass unless first ok'd by Ironside himself." He pulled out his phone and dialed the office down the hall. "Chief, Brown and Tragg are here to see you."

From the unpleasant look on the officer's face, Sgt. Brown figured Ironside gave him the third degree for not passing the two of them without question.

"Go ahead, gentlemen, but beware, the chief is not in a good mood."

Ed laughed. "So what's new?" He and Tragg passed the officer and entered the Chief's office.

"What's going on, Chief?" Ed asked his boss as he and Tragg walked down the ramp.

"The Commissioner's idea, he thinks I need protection," Ironside complained in an irritated voice.

"Chief, the commissioner is correct after what was at Martinez's apartment and you know it," Lt. Tragg said. "Martinez was to wait until you were alone and come up here and kill you. Both you and Perry are targets."

Ed moved to the phone and started dialing. "Who are you calling Ed?" Ironside asked him.

"We need to assign men to protect Perry Mason," Ed said as he continued to dial.

"Hang up the phone, Ed. It is already taken care of," Ironside told him as the door opened and Mark walked in.

"Chief, the tire has been changed. I dropped the bullet off downstairs at the lab," Mark told him.

Ed and Arthur exchanged looks. "What happened?" Tragg looked from Mark to Chief Ironside.

"After we arrived back here and entered the garage downstairs someone took a shot at the chief. Could not have been a professional," Mark said. "He missed the Chief by a mile. Shot out the front tire. Neither of us saw him as my first concern was to get the both of us out of the line of fire."

"Chief, that does it. From now on you are not leaving here without me with you until this case has been cleared up," Ed told Ironside.

"Let's not get over dramatic," Ironside said with irritation in his voice. "This only means we are getting close to solving this."

The phone rang. Ed walked over to the closest phone, picked up the receiver and said, "Chief Ironside's office." Ed listened for a minute and then said, "Get an investigative team over there now. And send two officers to the hospital. Don't leave him alone for one minute." He hung up.

Ironside looked at his Sergeant and said, "Well?"

"That was Carl. He got the warrant for George Williams' apartment. When he got there he found Williams had been shot. Chief, he's alive but just barely."

"Mark, let's go. I want a statement from Williams."

"No way, Chief. You are not going anywhere without me," Ed protested.

"Ed, I need you here in case anyone calls in. Mark cannot issue orders. You can." Ironside rolled over to the desk and pulled out two service revolvers. He put one in his pocket and wheeled his chair over to Lt. Tragg and handed it to him. "You are now a member of the San Francisco police department. Let's go."

Ed watched as Ironside, Mark and Lt. Tragg left the office in a hurry.

16.3

Perry sat on the couch with his arm around Della whose head was resting on his broad chest. She had fallen asleep. Perry was going over notes he and Hamilton had made for tomorrow court session. His cell phone rang, stirring Della.

Perry reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Mason," he announced. Mason listened for a moment and then said, "Ok Chief, we will meet you there."

Della looked up and said, "What's going on Perry?"

"Bob just called. They found George Williams. He's been shot. They are not sure he is going to make it. Bob is headed for the hospital to see if he can get a statement. He wants us to meet him there."

There was a knock on the door. Mason walked over and opened it. The young policeman smiled and said, "Chief Ironside called, Mr. Mason. We are to take you to meet him at the hospital."

Della grabbed her purse as Perry put on his suit coat and left with the two police officers.

16.4

Ironside and Mason arrived at the hospital at about the same time. Mark wheeled his boss into the emergency entrance as the police car transporting Della and Perry pulled up.

After greeting one another Chief Ironside rolled up to the emergency check-in and said to the woman attending the station, "I'm Chief Robert Ironside of the San Francisco police department. I called ahead regarding George Williams."

"Yes, Chief. I have been instructed to bring you, Mr. Mason and Lt. Tragg back to see him immediately." Ironside motioned for Perry, Della and Lt. Tragg to follow him. "Wait here, Mark."

Two men walked into the emergency entrance. Ironside took one look at them and eased his hand down into his pocket and pulled out his service revolver. He placed his hand out of sight. He started to maneuver his chair with one hand around to position himself in case he needed to defend his friends. Both of the strangers kept walking toward Ironside and his companions. They pulled out guns. Lt. Tragg was closest to Della. He immediately grabbed her, pushing her to the floor while at the same time drawing the service revolver Ironside had given him and fired and shot one of the gunmen. The second gunman fired a shot at Perry Mason who was hit in the shoulder before Ironside could maneuver his wheelchair to make a clean shot. He fired and dropped the second gunman. Out of nowhere a third gunman pointed his weapon at Ironside. Both Mark and Mason leaped into mid air at Ironside knocking him out of the wheelchair to the floor. At the same time shots were fired from beside the door from both weapons of the police officers that had accompanied Mason. The gunman took both gunshots to the chest. He fell to the floor, dead.

Once the screaming subsided in the emergency room from those who were waiting for treatment, Tragg moved quickly to the three men on the floor. Ironside and Mark were unharmed but he noticed blood on Mason's shoulder. He pulled Perry's suit jacket off and checked his wound. "You'll be fine, Perry. It stopped at the shoulder blade. It isn't even bleeding that bad."

Della was once again at Perry's side. Mark and Tragg helped Ironside back into his wheelchair. Emergency personnel started pouring into the room. Ironside wheeled to the desk phone and called the police station. He then turned to his uniformed officers and shouted, "Officers, you are to stay with Mr. Mason. Do not leave his side, not for a second. That includes the treatment room."

For the second time that day Perry Mason headed for a treatment room. Della, who was clearly upset and worried about Perry, went back with him.

Police started entering the emergency room. Ironside was barking orders. He ordered the emergency room cleared. Patients were taken to another room to wait for treatment. Police officers went with them to take statements. The coroner arrived.

Ironside could not help but wonder. Were he and Mason really the targets or was their man trying to insure Williams did not talk to the police?

16.5

As Mark wheeled Robert Ironside into his office/residence while Perry, Della and Lt. Tragg followed behind, Ed, Eve and Paul stood up, all three noticing Perry's left arm was not in his suit coat.

"I knew I should not have let you go without me," Ed complained. "What happened? Has everyone revealed the details of what had happened?" Ed asked, "Were you able to talk to Williams and did he reveal anything?"

"We talked to him but it was a one-sided conversation. He knows we have him on a murder one rap. He's scared. Let's give him a day or so to think. I don't think he will talk to us willingly but I think we can get him to talk," Ironside said. "Or rather, I think Perry can get him to talk."

Carl Reese walked in the door. He looked at the bloodied shoulder of Perry Mason and said, "I heard you guys got all the action this afternoon. I was glad to hear everyone is alright. I have some news for you on that warehouse, the Doll House."

Both Mason and Ironside immediately perked up.

"The warehouse is owned by a man by the name of Pierre DeValle. He is from what we would call the French Mafia. Seems our friends are putting that heroin…"

"In the dolls and shipping it all over the world," Mason and Ironside said at the same time.

Carl was clearly disappointed. "I don't know why either of you need a staff for. You seem to figure everything out on your own."

Ironside grumbled, "I keep you people around to take my frustration out on." Ed, Eve and Mark smiled. Carl was falling for Ironside's favorite gotcha game.

"Anyway, this guy is flying in tonight. He is going straight to that warehouse. He is supposed to be met by a man named Harrison Fisher. He's from Los Angeles and get this, he's in a wheelchair."

Ironside and Mason looked at each other. "Bob, is there any way we can stop Fisher from making that meeting?"

"The chief could pose as Fisher," Mark said.

Ed added to Mark's idea. "If the Chief could get inside there…"

"Would not do any good," Eve told everyone.

"Why not?" Lt. Tragg said. "This sounds like it might be a way to find out what is going on in there."

"Because," Paul said, "there is a catwalk across the top where those dolls are kept. That catwalk is not wide enough for the Chief to get his wheelchair across there. You can bet that is where they are keeping the heroin as that catwalk entrance is out off the main office. Eve and I were able to look through the windows."

Ironside frowned and then looked at Perry. "There is a way this would work."

Perry watched his friend. "How, Bob? What are you suggesting?"

Ironside grinned that well-known boyish grin. "I could get out of this wheelchair and walk across that catwalk. It worked once, no reason it would not work again."

Perry returned the boyish grin.

Hamilton Burger shook his head, "You are forgetting that Chief Ironside is famous the world over especially with organized crime. This guy may recognize Perry as him. I think this is very risky."

"I am willing to take that chance," said Perry.

"Well, I am not. I am not willing to take chances with your life," Della said as her voice began to rise. "Perry, you have already been knifed and shot today. Three strikes and you are out. I won't allow this."

Eve said, "There could be another version of this that would be safer."

Ironside looked to his policewoman. "What do you have in mind?"

"Find a reason to get Perry in there as the Chief himself. Mark could accompany him. If we could get Perry into that office and have someone call him, he could ask for privacy. They would leave him alone in the office because they know he can't get the wheelchair down that catwalk. Perry could then take 5-10 minutes to check out what is in there," Eve finished.

Everyone was silent. Finally Ed said, "It could work."

Perry turned to Della. "I want to do this, Della. I know you are concerned for me but this could work. It could be the final nail in our man's coffin."

Della turned to Ironside. "Robert, can you protect Perry if he does this?"

"We will have police all over the area ready to move in if there is any trouble. I will be in the van with Ed and Eve right there. They can move in fast if anything goes wrong. We will give Perry a gun to defend himself if the need arises."

Della turned to Perry. She placed a hand on his cheek. "Alright, Perry, but you are not to take any chances." Perry smiled and kissed Della in front of everyone.

16.6

Ironside sat in the back of the van with Perry, Eve and Ed. Mark was in the front driving the van to the warehouse. "This is Ironside," the chief said over the police intercom system. "All units move into position. Everyone is to remain there. No one is to move in without a direct order from me."

Mark pulled up to the Doll House warehouse. Ironside picked up the handset and barked into it, "All units stand by. We have arrived at the scene." He turned to Perry. "Here, put this pack of cigarettes into your pocket. They have a tiny transmitter in the pack which will allow us to hear everything that goes on. If you get into any trouble we will move in immediately."

Perry finished putting the padding into his suit. His hair had been colored to match the gray in Ironside's hair. The facial padding had also been added to fill out his face. Mocking the Chief he growled, "Well, are we going to sit in this van all night or are we going to check out that warehouse?"

Ed, Mark and Eve smiled. Ironside frowned. "If you think that passes for me, we're already in trouble."

Ed helped Ironside move to the rear of the van. He and Eve moved out of sight. Mark went around to the passenger side of the van where the lift would bring Perry down to the ground. Mark wheeled Perry to the front door of the warehouse and opened the door. Both men entered the warehouse and took the elevator up to the upper floor.

16.7

Della, Paul and Hamilton sat in a police van a distance away from the scene. Della was clearly nervous. Paul took her hand. "Relax, beautiful. The chief is not going to let anything happen to Perry. Both these men have saved each other's lives in the past few days. Ironside will look out for Perry."

16.8

Ironside barked at Ed. "Anything on that thing yet?"

Ed turned it up slightly. "They have entered the warehouse. The transmitter is working just fine, Chief."

Ironside picked up the handset. "All units stand by and remember, no one moves unless I say so."

16.9

Pierre DeValle walked up to Perry Mason. "Chief Ironside, what a pleasure to meet you, sir. We have heard about you all the way over in France. You are certainly the most famous detective in America. I was surprised to receive a phone call from you. What can I do for you? Is this an official visit?"

Perry smiled his best Ironside smile. He introduced Mark. "No, not at all. This is unofficial. Your reputation for the wonderful dolls precedes you. When I found out you were going to be in town for a day or so, I decided rather than deal with someone on your staff I would call on you directly. Mr. DeValle, I am on the board of several charities in this city. I could not help but admire a doll that a member of my staff, Eve Whitfield, had purchased while in Paris. It is absolutely beautiful. There is an orphanage here in San Francisco. Perhaps you have heard of it? St. Joseph's?"

"Why, yes of course," DeValle said.

"We would like to provide all the girls in that orphanage with one of those beautiful dolls for Christmas. We are getting the boys very large trucks and cars. But we simply must have those dolls for the girls. Is there any way I can get them before Christmas?" Perry asked.

"How many dolls are we talking about, Chief?" DeValle asked.

"About 300," Perry answered him.

"Chief, are you aware these dolls retail for $150.00 American money?" DeValle asked him.

"Yes, I had already checked on the price. We have enough donations to cover the cost of the dolls." Perry grinned. "Very few people can refuse me face to face."

DeValle laughed. "Yes, I have heard you are a very determined man, Chief. Why don't we step into the office and I will write up an invoice for the dolls? Where would you like them delivered to?"

"Directly to the orphanage if that would be possible," Perry told him.

"Absolutely." The phone rang. "DeValle," he answered into the phone. He listened for a moment and said, "Chief, there is a Sgt. Ed Brown calling you. He said there has been a development on the whereabouts of the runaway from the orphanage. He said he would like to speak to you privately."

Perry took the phone, "Sergeant, you should know I can't talk privately at the moment. Why can't this wait until I am done with Mr. DeValle?"

DeValle looked at the man he believed to be Robert Ironside. He looked at Ironside's chair and his eyes wandered to the door to the catwalk. "Chief, there is no problem with my leaving you alone for some privacy."

"Mr. DeValle, this could take 10-15 minutes for me to get all the information I need and issue orders to take care of this. I don't want to take up your time," Perry bluffed.

"Take all the time you need, Chief. Mr. Sanger and I will go get a cup of coffee and I will show him our operation. That should give you plenty of time. Just open the door to the office when you are ready." DeValle walked to the door, "Mr. Sanger?"

Mark looked at Perry. "Chief, is that ok with you?"

Perry said, "Of course Mark, enjoy the tour and thank you, Mr. DeValle."

As soon as DeValle and Mark had left, Perry took the gun out of his pocket and placed it at his waistline. He went to the door just used by DeValle and Mark to listen. Having been unable to hear anything on the other side of the door Perry immediately headed to the door that led to the catwalk. He checked it, it was locked. He went to the desk and found a set of keys. Trying every key in the door he finally came upon the correct key. He unlocked the deadbolt lock and peaked out the door. There was no activity down below. Nor were there any trucks that Eve had described when she and Paul had been here. To be on the safe side he ducked down below the railing to be sure he would not be seen. When he arrived on the other side he checked the door. It was locked. Eve and Paul had said this entire area was open. The sides were on a track. They had been brought down.

Perry again went back to the keys in his hand and tried each key until he found the right key. He went inside. He spoke over the transmitter, "Chief, we have hit the jackpot. I'll explain when I get back out." Perry pulled out his cell phone and started taking pictures. After about 10 minutes he decided to return to the office. He did not want to make DeValle suspicious. He returned the same way he had crossed over, crouching down so he would not be seen from below if there was anyone down there.

Upon entering the office he locked the door and returned the keys to the drawer, being careful to return them to the exact position they had been when he took them. He picked up the phone and said, "Ed, stay on the phone for just a minute." He got back in the wheelchair and wheeled himself to the door. He opened it and called for DeValle who appeared around the corner, walking with Mark at his side.

DeValle entered his office. Perry wheeled back to the phone and said, "Ed, that should be just about it. Mark and I will be leaving here shortly as soon as we have ordered the dolls for the orphanage. You put the wheels in motions. Let's find that girl." He hung up the phone.

DeValle walked over and sat down at the desk. He opened the desk drawer and took out an extra pen and handed it to Perry. "If you will sign where I have marked the x's… we'll have those dolls to you on time before Christmas."

Perry took the pen and signed 'Robert T. Ironside' on the paperwork. "I want to thank you, Mr. DeValle. If you have time tomorrow I would love to take you to dinner. We have a French restaurant with a fabulous reputation. I would be interested to know if it measures up to real French restaurants," Perry said.

"I am sorry, Chief Ironside but I am only in town for a couple of days and business will take up all my time. However, I will be back in the States next month. I would be more than honored to take you up on that offer if it still stands."

Perry offered his hand which DeValle shook. "The offer is a standing one," Perry said. "Just give my office a call."

Mark and Perry left the office. DeValle did not suspect a thing.

16.10

When Perry arrived back at the van Mark lowered the lift that took Perry to the floor level of the van and Perry wheeled himself inside. Mark went around to the driver's door, got in and drove away.

"This is Ironside," the Chief said. "All units return to base."

Ironside looked at Mason, shaking his head. "How you successfully pass for me, I will never know."

Perry smiled. "It's not as tough as you think, Chief. People don't have your power of observation. They see only what is in front of them. He saw Robert T. Ironside. He never looked past that."

Ironside addressed Perry Mason. "There is nothing further I can do, Perry. A lot points to him but we don't have anything concrete enough to take to the prosecutor. The rest is up to you. You are going to have to break this man on the stand or he gets away with murder."

"You've done plenty, Chief. He will not get away with murder," Mason assured him.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 The Defense Winds down

17.1

Upon arriving at the court house Perry and Della were mobbed by reporters shouting questions about the events at the hospital. The incident had hit the morning edition of the newspapers.

"Mr. Mason, is there a connection between the shooting yesterday and your client?" shouted out one of the reporters.

"No comment," Perry said with a smile.

"Mr. Mason, we heard Chief Ironside shot the gunman who shot you in the shoulder. What were the two of you doing together at the hospital?" another reported shouted.

Perry had a hold of Della's elbow, guiding her through the crowds of reporters and onlookers. The two policemen that were assigned to protect Mason moved in and started clearing a path for Perry and Della into the courthouse.

They entered the courtroom and took their places at the defense table. Hamilton Burger walked into the courtroom and joined them. Perry noticed John Richards walking toward them.

"I heard what happened yesterday, Mason. If you need a day or so off to rest I would be more than agreeable. Judge Thatcher has already indicated he would allow it."

Mason smiled. "Thank you, but I am fine. I think it is in everyone's best interest that we keep the trial going. But again, thank you for your concern."

Richards nodded and returned to the prosecutor's table.

The bailiff called out, "All rise." Judge Thatcher entered the room.

"Mr. Mason, the court is aware of what happened yesterday and is more than willing to adjourn for a few days to give you a chance to recover. I have already spoken to Mr. Richards and he has agreed."

"Your Honor, I appreciate the court's concern. However I have already told Mr. Richards I am able to continue with the defense's presentation," Perry said after rising to his feet.

Surprised, Judge Thatcher said, "Alright, Mr. Mason. Call your next witness."

"The defense calls Detective Sgt. Edward Brown back to the stand." Perry opened the swinging gate that separated the judge and opposing attorneys from the observers.

"Sgt. Brown, I remind you that you are still under oath," Judge Thatcher said.

Brown sat down in the witness stand. Perry Mason approached him. "Sgt. Brown, you have been assigned as an investigator by Chief Robert T. Ironside on this case. Is that correct?"

"Yes sir, it is," Brown answered.

"Did you receive orders from Chief Ironside to re-examine the home of Scott Whitmore?"

"Yes sir, the Chief had reason to believe the evidence against the defendant was planted," Brown told him.

"Exactly what procedures did you undertake at Mr. Whitmore's home?"

"We decided to re-examine the path into the house through the crawl space," Brown answered.

"And what did you find?" Mason asked.

"We dusted the area around the entrance into the house from the crawl space for fingerprints."

"Were you able to determine who the fingerprints belonged to?" Mason asked.

Richards stood up. "Objection, Your Honor. There has been no foundation laid for this. Sgt. Brown is not a fingerprint expert."

"Mr. Mason, I have to agree with Mr. Richards," Thatcher said.

"Your Honor, I can't but agree myself. However, the fingerprint expert that dusted for prints cannot be here in court today as he was called away due to a death in the family. I do have a signed affidavit with his report of his findings," Mason informed the judge.

"Are you willing to offer it into evidence at this time?" Thatcher asked.

Mason walked over to the defense table. Della rifled through the paperwork, pulled out a several-page report and handed it to her boss. Mason handed the report to John Richards who looked over the report. Reluctantly John Richards said, "I withdraw my objection."

Mason took the report and handed it to Ed Brown. "Is this the report that was given to you by the fingerprint expert, Mark Curtis?"

Ed Brown browsed though the report and said, "Yes sir, this is the report given to me by Mr. Curtis."

"Now Sgt. Brown, were you able to determine whose prints if any were found?" Mason asked.

"Yes, we found at least two dozen prints belonging to George Williams, an employee of the Whitmore Storage Company," Brown told him.

"Exactly where were these prints found?" Mason continued his questioning.

Brown answered, "We found several prints on both sides of the door leading into the house from the crawl space."

"Indicating Williams entered the house through that door?" Mason asked.

"Objection! Calls for speculation on the part of the witness," Richards called out.

Thatcher took a moment and then said, "I am going to allow the question, Mr. Richards."

"Sgt. Brown?"

"Yes, Mr. Williams went through that door," Brown said with confidence.

Mason walked over to the jury box. "In other words Sgt. Brown, he could have gone through that door in order to plant evidence against the defendant, could he not?"

John Richards stood up immediately. "Your Honor, I object. Again Mr. Mason is asking the witness to speculate. George Williams lived in the defendant's home for six months. Sgt. Brown can't possibly know when those prints were placed there."

"Objection sustained," Thatcher said.

"Sergeant, I show you defense exhibit 9. Have you seen this before?" Mason inquired.

Brown took the object from Mason. After examining it he said, "Yes, I have. It is a cufflink with the initials GW on it."

"Can you tell the court where you found it?" Mason continued.

"Yes, sir. We moved the washing machine out away from the wall. It was found just under the machine." Brown handed the cufflink back to Mason who offered it to John Richards.

Mason again walked over to the jury box. "The cufflink could have been dropped when Williams placed Lt. Martin's badge behind the washing machine, could it not?"

An angry district attorney stood up again. "Your Honor, Mr. Mason is constantly asking this witness to speculate on something he cannot prove. He doesn't know when the cufflink was dropped. I will remind him once again Mr. Williams lived in the defendant's home and could have dropped it then."

"Sustained."

Perry Mason walked back to the defense table. Hamilton Burger handed him a paper. Mason then walked back to the witness stand. "I show you this sales receipt from the Towers Jewelry store. Have you seen it before?"

"Yes, sir." Brown said.

"Can you tell me how you came in possession of it?" Mason asked him.

"Yes. My colleagues and I bought Chief Ironside a pair exactly like it last year from the Towers Jewelry store for his birthday. I took that cufflink to that store and asked the store owner to trace when the cufflink was sold and to whom," Brown told him.

"And what did you find out?"

"That it was sold to George Williams. I was given that sales receipt at that time," Brown told Mason.

"Now Sergeant, I would like you to look at the date of this sales receipt provided to you by the Towers Jewelry store. Will you please tell the court if the date of purchase was before or after Mr. Williams moved out of Mr. Whitmore's home?" Perry asked.

"It was purchased after the date he moved out," Sgt. Brown answered, causing a series of low murmurs throughout the courtroom.

"Thank you Sgt. Brown. Your witness, counselor," Mason smiled.

"Sgt. Brown, you cannot prove when the fingerprints were placed on the crawl space door, can you **not**?" Richards asked.

"No sir, I cannot," Brown said.

"And to your knowledge was George Williams ever in Scott Whitmore's home after he moved out?" Richards continued.

"Yes, sir," Brown told him.

"More than once?" Richards asked.

"Yes, sir. More than once," Brown said.

Richards sat back down. "Thank you, Sergeant. That will be all."

Judge Thatcher turned to Ed Brown and said, "You are excused."

Perry called Lt. Tragg to the stand.

"Lieutenant Tragg, please tell the court why you were at the Whitmore Storage Company on Tuesday of this week." Perry was walking toward the witness stand.

"I was asked by Chief Robert T. Ironside to go to the warehouse with Officer Eve Whitfield and a police investigative team to search all of the Whitmore Storage warehouses at the request of James Whitmore. He found a discrepancy in the manifest as to what was actually in the warehouses. He felt Chief Ironside would be interested in what was in them," Lt. Tragg told Mason.

"And what did you find?"

"At least two hundred boxes of three-foot round containers and small plastic bags in two of the warehouses," Tragg answered.

"What are these items commonly used for?" Mason asked him.

Richards stood up. "Your Honor, I would like to know where Mr. Mason is going with this as I see no connection with this case."

"Mr. Mason?" Judge Thatcher looked at Perry Mason.

"Your Honor, if the court will bear with us we intend to show the warehouses, unknown to James Whitmore, were being used to store and market heroin. We will tie it to a similar operation in Los Angeles and that it was the reason Lt. David Martin was murdered." Perry Mason was taking full advantage of his booming courtroom voice.

"I will allow this line of questioning," Thatcher informed Richards.

Hamilton Burger walked over to Perry Mason with a file in his hand. Perry took the file from him. "We would like to enter this police file from the city of Los Angeles into evidence. It is the file on the case of Donald Griffith who was convicted of murdering a Los Angeles policeman. We will connect that case to the current one."

Richards walked over to Mason, examined the file and handed it back to him. Perry handed the file to Lt. Tragg. "Lieutenant, can you tell the court about the Griffith case please?"

"The Narcotics Squad raided a warehouse where Mr. Griffith was storing heroin in the same containers found at the Whitmore warehouses. They were transported in trucks that were owned by a company by the name of Armada. Lt. David Martin was the arresting officer from homicide. He had been investigating Griffith and the Armada Company on his own," Tragg told the court.

"What happened after the arrest and conviction of Donald Griffith?" Mason asked.

"They moved their operation to San Francisco. The same type of containers were found in Whitmore's warehouses and also in the Jordan warehouse which were also searched by myself and Detective Sgt. Ed Brown," Lt. Tragg said.

"And were you able to determine who rented the Jordan warehouse?" Perry asked him.

"Yes, we were. It was rented by George Williams," replied Lt. Tragg.

"Did Mr. Williams also have access to the Whitmore warehouse?" Perry continued.

"Yes, sir. He did indeed," Lt. Tragg answered.

"Your witness." Mason walked back to the defense table and sat down.

"I have no questions, Your Honor," Richards told Thatcher.

"The defense calls Lt. Carl Reese to the stand," Perry called out.

Once the witness was seated Perry walked over to Reese. "Lt. Reese, did you get a search warrant for the home of George Williams?"

"Yes, sir," Carl told him.

"What did you find?" Perry asked.

"Williams had been shot. He was lying on the floor of the living room. We took him to the hospital with two officers assigned to protect him on Chief Robert Ironside's orders."

"What if anything did you find during your search?" Perry asked.

"We found several three-foot round containers full of heroin with the Armada label, napkins from Ted's Tavern and a copy of a key which was to the Whitmore warehouse in which Lt. David Martin was found dead," Carl told Mason.

"Your witness." Mason walked back to the defense table.

A dejected district attorney did not even look up when he said, "No questions."

Judge Thatcher watched Perry Mason. He looked pale and grimaced every time he moved. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Mason was in pain. He could not seem to get comfortable at the defense table. "Mr. Mason, are you alright?" he asked the defense attorney.

"I am fine, Your Honor," Mason said not very convincingly.

"Well you do not look fine, Mr. Mason. Mr. District Attorney, if you do not object I think it would be best if we adjourn for the day and give Mr. Mason some time to rest."

"That is not necessary, Your Honor. I can continue," Mason told him.

"Mr. Richards?" Thatched called out.

"I have no objections, Your Honor," Richards told the judge.

"Then court is adjourned until 1:00 pm tomorrow. Mr. Mason, I suggest you spend the time allowing your body to begin recovering from the trauma you have been though." Thatcher got up and left the room.

"Perry, he's right. You have not sat still since you came in here. Get some rest. We can go over the remaining witnesses in the morning," Hamilton told him with concern.

As Scott Whitmore was led away, two police officers approached Perry. "Mr. Mason, Chief Ironside has ordered us to bring you to his office to rest. If you will come this way, sir, we have a patrol car just outside. We assume Miss Street will be accompanying you."

Mason made no attempt to argue. He knew Ironside would get his way and frankly he was in too much pain and did not have the energy to object. He collected the paperwork that was spread across the table and placed it in his briefcase. He took Della's elbow and led her out of the courtroom.

17.2

"Have you been able to find out if Williams is alive or not?" the man asked the other.

"Nothing is coming out of the commissioner's office. Ironside has put a tight lid on this case. They have cops stationed at both elevators that lead to his office. I have checked with a hospital source of mine who says Williams was not admitted. She says he did not make it. Ironside is trying to keep his death quiet like he is doing with Martinez. I can only assume that he is dead."

"Assume? Are you crazy? We can't assume anything. You were supposed to make sure he was silenced. What if he talks? Nobody you have hired seems to be able to carry out orders. Ironside and Mason are still alive. You missed both of them twice. Mitchell has been traced back here. And now we have to worry about Martinez and Williams. God, this is a mess."

"Stop worrying. Everything will be fine. They have nothing to tie you to any of this. I would stake my life on it."

"You may have to," came the reply from the man in charge.

17.3

Perry and Della sat at the table in Ironside's residence. Mark had just placed sandwiches in front of them and his boss.

"Perry, I want you to go into Mark's room and sleep after we are done eating lunch. The doctor has prescribed some pain medication that should also put you out for the afternoon," Ironside said.

"We have to go over the testimony for our final witnesses, Bob. This has to be handled just right. It is important if I am going to break this guy down on the stand," Perry objected.

"You have time to do that after dinner tonight. I called Hamilton and he will call the rest in for dinner. In the meantime you need to have a clear head and you won't have that if you are not rested."

"I appreciate your concern, Chief but I can go back to the hotel for rest," Perry said.

"You can go back to the hotel but I will have no guarantee that you will rest. If you stay here I know you will rest. Don't argue with me. You should know better by now. I never take no for an answer," Ironside growled.

Della smiled. She was going to have to sit down with Robert Ironside and learn his trade for handling Perry. Watching him, she knew Perry had already given in. It would come in handy when she tried in the future to get him out of his office at a decent hour.

"Chief, how is George Williams doing?" Perry asked Ironside as he bit into his sandwich.

Ironside grinned. "He has taken a major turn for the better. I still think it is best that we allow his…shall we say associate to continue to think he is dead. It could come as a major asset to you in court."

"Is there a chance he can appear in court?" Perry inquired.

"Looks like we are thinking along the same lines. It can be arranged. The doctors gave me a hard time but they decided to give in to me to get me out of their hospital," Ironside said with amusement. "I have also delayed the departure of Mr. Pierre DeValle. We have kept his warehouse under surveillance since we left. There have been some interesting developments. Seems Mr. DeValle fell for your impersonation of me completely. He has already delivered those dolls to the orphanage. I am not quite sure how I am going to explain that bill to the commissioner but I certainly am going to enjoy it!" Ironside grinned.

Perry chuckled.

"Chief, I am not sure I follow you," Della said. "What developments?"

Ironside took a drink of coffee and said, "Mr. DeValle also delivered some of those dolls to Mr. Williams' associate. I was able to get a man in the truck that delivered them to him. We arrested the driver and put one of our undercover officers in his place. He checked the dolls and found heroin in them. I had him quietly deliver them. We will make the arrests later. I thought the information would be useful to you. Here are the phone records for Mr. DeValle's warehouse. I have the partnership papers for The Doll House Warehouse. Take a look at DeValle's partner."

Perry grinned. "Chief, you make sure you have Williams in court tomorrow. Too bad one of those gunmen from the hospital did not survive."

"For a talented lawyer like yourself I would think you could find a way to call one of those dead gunmen as a witness," Ironside suggested with amusement.

"You know, Bob, sometimes you scare me when you start saying what I am thinking," Perry smiled.

17.4

Perry woke up, for a moment confused as to where he was. Della, who had been sitting beside him in a comfortable chair Ironside had provided, placed her hand on his cheek. "Easy, Perry. That pain medicine that the Chief had the doctor prescribe for you really knocked you out. You have been asleep for hours."

Perry took Della's hand in his and asked, "What time is it?"

Della looked at her watch and said, "Seven o'clock. Everyone is starting to arrive for dinner."

Perry sat up and groaned. "I think the chief's medicine is wearing off." Perry got up. Della supported him as he moved out into the main room of the Chief's office and living quarters. Already sitting around the room was everyone except Paul and Eve. "Where are Paul and Eve?" Mason asked.

Ironside grinned, "No one seems to know. How's that shoulder, counselor?"

"It's fine," Perry insisted. "Just exactly what kind of witch doctor are you? Whatever you gave me knocked me out all day."

Ironside chuckled. "I told the doctor to give you enough to knock out a race horse. Admit it, Perry. You needed the rest. Your pills are over there on the desk. Della, get them for him, will you? Take just one, Perry. It won't knock you out this time but it will take the edge off the pain."

Della walked over to the desk, picked up the pills and returned to Perry. Mark handed him a glass of water. Perry thought about arguing for a moment but decided arguing with Robert Ironside was useless. He took the pill.

The door banged open. Eve and Paul entered. "Evening folks," Paul said.

"Where in the flaming hell have you two been?" Ironside bellowed.

Eve smiled. She did not know why the chief continued to pretend he was angry at times like this. She knew him too well. He could not get the reaction out of her that he did out of Ed. "We went shopping. It would be a shame for these people to visit our city and not enjoy the finer places here. I also took Paul to the Golden Gate Bridge. He said he had never been there before."

"He said what?" Perry asked. Della poked him in the ribs with her elbow and smiled.

Lt. Tragg lifted his head and sniffed. "Please don't tell me that smell is chili?

Eve, Ed and Carl smiled. Mark thought about the chief's orders for dinner. He had made sure chili was the menu every time Lt. Tragg was a dinner guest. Mark thought about warning the Lieutenant not to complain about the chief's chili. He knew it meant Ironside would order up chili every time. He just loved getting under people's skin.

"If you all would like to sit down, dinner will be served." Everyone sat down at the table. Perry and Della sat to Ironside's right. Eve, who was always protective of her boss, sat with Paul to his left. Lt. Tragg took a seat beside Hamilton. The rest filled in around the table.

After everyone was seated Mark walked over to Lt. Tragg and placed a large bottle of Maalox in front of him and said, "Compliments of Chief Robert T. Ironside." Everyone at the table burst into laughter. Mark then placed the very large pot of chili on the table.

"No wonder he's so cranky. If I had to eat this stuff every day I'd be cranky too," Tragg grumbled. Another round of laughter followed.

Ironside had ordered the trial and case as a subject for dinner conversation to be off limits. By now all those involved had become extremely comfortable with one another and conversation flowed freely among people who had bonded due to their common cause of the search for the truth. Conversation consisted of confessions, stories and much laughter.

When the evening ended everyone filed out except Perry and Della. Della placed her hand over Robert Ironside's and said, "Robert, I compliment you for having the insight to just allow everyone to relax tonight. It is just what the doctor ordered. I have to ask. Did you deliberately have Mark fix chili to get a reaction out of Lt. Tragg?"

A familiar twinkle of amusement appeared in Ironside's blue eyes. "I like chili. I admit nothing."

Perry, Della and Robert Ironside all laughed. Ironside looked at Perry. "Well counselor, tomorrow is the big day. Do you have a plan for breaking this man?"

Perry looked back at the man whom he had come to respect tremendously. "Hamilton and I will go over it in the morning. Yes, between you and I, we will break him. Bob, I can't tell you how much your help has meant to me. I am not sure I could have accomplished everything we did if you had not agreed to help us. Paul's an outstanding detective but he would not have had your resources. Thank you for everything you have done. Your reputation for being the best detective in the country is well deserved."

Ironside smiled at the man whom he had equally grown to respect and admire. "Oh, I think you would have done just fine. You're a very talented attorney and if I ever get in trouble you are the man I want defending me. It is I who should thank you for reminding us that, though we appear to be on opposite sides, we really are all after the same thing, the truth. When we forget that, we do our legal system an injustice." Ironside put his hand out. Mason took it and the two men shook hands.

Della watched Perry and Robert. She knew a bond had formed between these two men that had cemented a friendship that would last the rest of their lives. "Perry, I think it is time to go back to the hotel. You can go over your examination of witnesses but I insist you are in bed no later than midnight," Della said.

Perry shook his head and grumbled something neither Ironside nor Della could make out.

Ironside chuckled. "Perry, are you beginning to feel ganged up on here in San Francisco?"

"Bob, since I have arrived here, I have been knifed, shot, bullied, drugged, fed chili until there is a hole in my stomach and worst of all, I have been told constantly that I look like you! When this case is finished I can't get back to Los Angeles fast enough."

Ironside and Della laughed. "Okay you two, get out of here," Ironside said.

As he picked up the phone to instruct the police officers to take them back to their hotel, Della bent down and kissed Ironside on the cheek. "Good night, chief."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Courtroom Confessions

The courtroom was packed. Everyone knew the trial was coming down to just a very few witnesses. Many wanted to see the famous Perry Mason in action. Others were just curious onlookers who had read some of the considerable coverage on the trial. Cameras were clicking everywhere in the courtroom as Perry Mason and his confidential secretary, Della Street, entered followed by Hamilton Burger. John Richards was already at the prosecutor's table.

Scott Whitmore stood up and shook hands with both of his attorneys. Hamilton took his place beside Perry. The bailiff called out, "All rise."

As everyone in the courtroom stood up Judge Thatcher entered the courtroom from the door to his chambers. He took his place on the bench. He called the court to order and looked up at Perry Mason. "Mr. Mason, do you feel you are able to continue or do you need more time to recover?"

"I am fine, Your Honor. The defense is ready to continue," Perry answered him.

"Alright then, call your next witness, Mr. Mason," Judge Thatcher said.

"The defense calls Pierre DeValle to the stand," Perry said.

DeValle entered the courtroom. He had the air of a very unhappy man after being sworn in and seating himself in the witness stand. Perry faced the bench. "Your Honor, the defense would like the court's permission to treat Mr. DeValle as a hostile witness."

"Permission granted. You may proceed, Mr. Mason."

Mason stood up. "Mr. DeValle, you are one of the owners of the Doll House Warehouse, is that correct?"

"Yes," DeValle said without looking at Mason.

"Can you tell the court what type of business the Doll House is?" Mason asked.

"We store and market dolls, the kind that are for display, not toys," DeValle told him.

"Mr. DeValle, is it not true that the Doll House actually stores and markets heroin by placing it in the dolls and selling it around the world?" Mason inquired.

"That's ridiculous!" DeValle shouted.

"Your Honor, we have to object. What has this got to do with the current case?" Richards complained.

Mason turned to the bench. "Your Honor, this has everything to do with this case and if the court will be patient we will connect it to the other warehouses."

"Overruled," Thatcher said.

"Mr. DeValle, did you have the opportunity to sell 300 of those dolls to Chief Robert T. Ironside just recently?" Mason asked.

"Yes, in fact I did. He bought them for a local orphanage." DeValle was now staring at Perry Mason. The shock on his face was evident as he realized the resemblance Perry Mason had to Robert Ironside.

"I have no further questions but would like to reserve the right to recall this witness." Mason turned to Richards and said, "Your witness."

Richards was confused as to what this was all about. He looked at Mason and said, "No questions."

"The defense calls Chief Robert T. Ironside to the stand," Perry said. The courtroom broke out in a low whisper as Chief Ironside pushed open the courtroom doors and wheeled himself to the front of the courtroom. Perry opened the swinging door and held it as Ironside wheeled through.

Before he was sworn in Judge Thatcher addressed Chief Ironside and said with a smile, "I trust since Mr. Mason is in full view of the entire courtroom that you are indeed Chief Robert T. Ironside." The courtroom broke out in laughter. Thatcher made no attempt to bring the courtroom under control; rather he allowed the laughter to die down.

Chief Ironside returned the judge's smile. "I am indeed Robert T. Ironside, Your Honor." Ironside was sworn in. He remained in his wheelchair and did not take the customary place in the witness stand itself.

"Would you state your name and occupation, please?" Mason asked of Ironside, wanting to take full advantage of Ironside's notoriety.

"Chief Robert T. Ironside. I am a police detective, consultant to Commissioner Dennis Randall of the San Francisco Police Department."

Mason walked over to Chief Ironside. "Chief, would you tell the court how you came to be assigned to investigate the Martin murder?"

"I was asked by Commissioner Randall to investigate the murder."

"Now, when you investigate a case, that would include the members of your staff, Sgt. Edward Brown and Officer Eve Whitfield. Is that correct?" Mason asked.

"Yes, of course. I also asked Captain Jimmy Smith to assign Lt. Carl Reese to my office for the duration of this case," Ironside said.

"Now Chief, on the day I arrived in San Francisco I came to your office. What did I ask you to do?"

"After presenting me with enough evidence that the fingerprints on the murder weapon and detective's badge were planted and not genuine, you asked me to help you uncover the truth of Lt. Martin's murder," Ironside said.

"Chief, did you order an undercover operation at the Doll House Warehouse which included purchasing 300 dolls from Pierre DeValle in order to gain access to his warehouse?" Mason asked.

"I did," Ironside replied as he looked over at Pierre DeValle.

"Did you enter the Doll House Warehouse, Chief Ironside?" Mason asked.

"No, I did not. I remained in the van and monitored the activity inside," Ironside said.

DeValle's face registered shock.

"Thank you, Chief. No further questions. Your witness, Mr. District Attorney," Mason said.

"Chief Ironside, if you did not enter that warehouse then who did?" Richards asked.

"Mr. Mason entered the warehouse disguised as me in the same manner in which he did here in court last week," Ironside told him.

Richards turned to the bench. "Your Honor, I still do not see the relevance in any of this testimony. Mr. Mason has not, as promised, tied this into the current case, therefore I must request Chief Ironside's testimony be stricken from the record."

"Mr. Mason?" Thatcher questioned.

Mason stood up. "Your Honor, we will tie this all together if the district attorney will be patient."

"Alright, Mr. Mason. Overruled. Mr. Richards, please continue."

"No further questions." Richards shook his head.

Hamilton Burger stood up. "The defense would like to call Perry Mason to the stand."

"Oh Your Honor, this is ridiculous. Mr. Mason and his theatrics is a waste of the court's time," Richards complained.

"Your Honor, Chief Ironside has already testified Mr. Mason was the one who entered the warehouse. He has information that is important to the defense," Burger argued.

"Although this is unusual, I see no reason Mr. Mason cannot testify," Thatcher said. "Mr. Mason, take the stand."

Perry Mason walked over to the stand and was sworn in. Hamilton Burger stood up and approached him. "Mr. Mason, tell the court how you entered the Doll House Warehouse."

Perry raised his voice and said, "Chief Ironside came up with the idea for me to impersonate him again and enter the Doll House Warehouse as him."

Hamilton asked, "For what purpose? Why could Chief Ironside not just go into the warehouse himself?"

"The warehouse office has a door that opens into a catwalk which leads to the storage room we believed held the same containers and heroin that were found in the Jordan and Whitmore warehouses. The problem with Chief Ironside going in was that he could not get his wheelchair down that catwalk. It was too narrow. So he suggested I pose as him. I went in claiming to want to purchase 300 dolls for the orphanage. We had Sgt. Brown call me as Chief Ironside. I was to ask for privacy. We did not figure Mr. DeValle would object knowing Chief Ironside could not get down the catwalk if DeValle was the least bit suspicious. It worked. He left me alone in the office and took Mark Sanger who had accompanied me with him. I went across the catwalk," Perry told Burger.

"What did you find?" Hamilton asked him.

"Several hundred three-foot containers full of heroin in plastic bags. We also found hundreds of those dolls. All the ones I removed the heads of contained heroin inside," Mason continued.

"What did you do next?" Hamilton Burger asked.

"I used my cell phone to record as much of what I saw as I could," Mason told the court.

"Your Honor, we have transferred the cell phone recording to this recording machine. We would like to show it to the court at this time." Burger walked over to the recorder that was connected to a flat screen.

"Permission granted." Thatcher watched as Burger set up the recorder. He pressed the button and the screen showed the dolls. Mason had recorded removing their heads and pulling out the heroin. He also recorded the containers as well as the Armada label. After several minutes the recording ended.

"Your Honor, this is a nice little show Mr. Mason has recorded but it doesn't prove the substance shown in that video was heroin, nor does it prove the labels on the containers are the same labels as were on the other containers in those warehouses," Richards argued.

Hamilton approached the bench. "We will now prove that very point, Your Honor."

"Proceed, Mr. Burger," Judge Thatcher said.

"Mr. Mason, did you secure any evidence from that warehouse?" Hamilton asked him.

"Yes, I did. I took three bags of the heroin and I pealed three labels from those containers. I placed them in the side of the wheelchair as Chief Ironside had instructed me to do. I brought them out of the warehouse and turned them over to Chief Ironside." Mason glanced over to Ironside.

"Thank you, Mr. Mason. Your witness, Mr. Richards," Hamilton said.

"No questions."

Mason stepped down and resumed his role as defense attorney. "Your Honor, we would like to recall Chief Ironside at this time."

Ironside returned to the stand. "Chief, did you have the substance analyzed?"

"Yes, I did. The lab gave me this report. It was heroin," Ironside said as he handed the report to Mason. Mason in turn had it marked as defense exhibit 19.

"And did you also have the labels analyzed?" Perry asked.

"Yes, and we were able to match the label which said 'Armada' on them with the labels in the other two warehouses."

"Your witness, Mr. Richards," Perry said.

Richard shook his head. "No questions."

Mason was reading from a paper when he said, "The defense would like to recall Pierre DeValle to the stand."

DeValle returned to the stand. He had broken out in a sweat as he waited for Mason to resume his questioning.

"Now Mr. DeValle, earlier when I suggested you were using the Doll House as a place to store and market heroin in those dolls I believe you said it was ridiculous. Does it seem as ridiculous to you now?" Mason asked.

"I was completely unaware that this was happening at the warehouse. I live in Paris, France. My warehouse is not run by me," DeValle said. "You can't prove I had anything to do with this."

"Oh but I can," Mason said. He walked over to the defense table and took a paper from Hamilton Burger. "This is a telegram from the police in Paris, France. There is an inspector there that knows the reputation of Chief Ironside. At Chief Ironside's request, with the evidence he was able to provide, the Inspector got a warrant for your warehouse in Paris. This telegram is informing Chief Ironside that the same thing was found there. A warrant has been issued for your arrest." Mason handed the telegram to DeValle who said nothing.

Hamilton Burger walked forward and handed Perry another paper. "Mr. DeValle, please tell the court who your partner is for the Doll House Warehouse," Mason requested.

"I don't have a partner," DeValle said.

"Oh but you do." Perry handed DeValle a paper. "This is the business papers filed with the city of San Francisco by your partner. Would you read the name of your partner, please?"

"What papers are you talking about? I never filed any papers," DeValle said confused.

"All businesses must file these papers with the city," Perry told him. "Now please read the name of your partner."

DeValle looked down at the paperwork and said nothing.

"Your Honor…," Perry began.

Judge Thatcher interrupted Mason and said, "Mr. DeValle, answer counsel's question."

DeValle finally said, "David Martin Sr." The court exploded in an uproar.

"Order in the court," shouted Judge Thatcher as he banged his gavel on the bench.

After the courtroom quieted down, Perry Mason looked at Richards and said, "Your witness."

Richards had become very alert. "I have no questions. Mr. Mason the prosecution is as interested in the truth as you are. Please continue."

"Your Honor, the defense calls David Martin Sr. to the stand," Perry called out.

Councilman David Martin opened the swinging door and was sworn in. He glared at Perry Mason.

"Your Honor, the defense would like to question Councilman Martin as a hostile witness." Perry approached Martin.

"Granted, counselor," Thatcher said.

"Councilman Martin, you are the father of the murdered victim, Lt. David Martin Jr., are you not?"

"You know I am, Mason," Martin growled.

"You are also a member of the City Council in the city of San Francisco, correct?"

"You already know the answer so why are you asking me such stupid questions?" Martin asked with disgust.

"Your Honor, we request Mr. Martin be instructed to answer the defense's questions," Perry addressed Judge Thatcher.

"The witness will answer counsel's questions," Thatcher instructed Martin.

"Yes, I am a member of the City Council," Martin growled at Mason.

"As a city council member you would have access to partnership papers filed with the city, is that correct?" Mason asked.

Martin hesitated but finally answered, "Yes."

"Could you explain why, when I requested the partnership papers of the Doll House, I received this copy which shows a sole proprietorship and yet, when Chief Ironside went down and searched the file, he found this document showing the Doll House as a partnership with you as one of the partners?" Mason boomed.

"I am sure I have no idea," Martin snarled.

"Miss Janice Taylor, would you stand up please?" Mason requested. A young lady of about 24 years old stood up. "I can call Miss Taylor to the stand who will testify that, when she pulled the papers to make me a copy, you took them from her and said you would deliver them to Chief Ironside who would in turn give them to me."

Martin was squirming on the witness stand. "Alright, I changed the papers," Martin admitted.

"For what purpose, Mr. Martin?" Mason demanded.

"I did not want to be connected with the Doll House. I have never claimed any of the profits on my income taxes. That could lead to my dismissal as a council member." Martin continued to glare at Mason with obvious hatred on his face.

Perry walked back to the defense table. Hamilton Burger handed him another paper.

"Councilman Martin. I have in my hand a birth certificate." Perry handed it to Martin.

"Tell the court whose birth certificate it is, please." Mason waited for an answer.

"It is my mother's birth certificate," Martin sneered.

"Her name please, Mr. Martin." Perry continued to stare **directly** into the eyes of Martin.

"Evelyn Martin," Martin said.

"Come now, Mr. Martin. Her birth certificate does not have her married name. Please read her given name on the birth certificate," Mason demanded.

Martin said nothing.

"Your Honor?" Mason looked to Thatcher for help.

"Answer the question, Mr. Martin," Thatcher commanded.

Martin looked back to Mason with distain. "Evelyn Armada." There was a low rumble around the courtroom.

"Armada…would that be the same Armada on the containers found in three different warehouses in this city?" Mason asked.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Martin hissed.

"Oh but I think you do." He walked back over to the defense table. Paul Drake met him there with a manila jacket and handed it to him.

"Would you like me to call Mr. Paul Drake to the stand who just this morning received this report from his Los Angeles operatives on the Armada Trucking company? It has taken Mr. Drake's operatives over a month to locate this sole proprietorship."

Again Martin said nothing.

"Isn't it true, Mr. Martin, that you owned the Armada Trucking Company, a company that you named after your mother? Isn't it true, Mr. Martin, that when the police arrested Donald Griffith you decided to have your heroin trafficking company moved to the city of San Francisco? And isn't it true you have been operating that trafficking business out of the Doll House, the Jordan Warehouse and the Whitmore warehouse?"

"No, you can't prove any of this," shouted Martin.

"Actually, I can." Perry walked over to the defense table and was met by Chief Ironside who handed him a paper that had just arrived. Perry took it from him and headed back to the witness stand. "Chief Ironside can be called back to the stand to identify this picture, Mr. Martin. It is a picture that clearly shows you standing in front of the Whitmore Warehouse where your son was killed. In the foreground is a box truck with an 'A' on its side. These are the same trucks that have been found in the Doll House Warehouse. Chief Ironside got a warrant this morning and the Doll House Warehouse was searched. All of the contents have been removed including the trucks."

Martin was staring at the floor.

"I can call Chief Ironside back to the stand. He will testify that your fingerprints were found all over several of those trucks. They were also found on several of the containers in the Doll House Warehouse." Mason's voice was booming so loud even those outside the closed doors of the courtroom could have easily heard every word he was saying.

By now Martin was sweating, nervous and looking desperately for a way to avoid Mason's glare.

Mason walked back to the defense table. He knew they had Martin on drug trafficking but they had no solid evidence of Lt. Martin's murder. Mason knew he had to find a way to get the confession from Martin. "Councilman, I have here in my hand your phone records which I will enter into evidence. There are several calls from your cell phone to Officer Pete Mitchell at police headquarters. He is the officer responsible for removing evidence out of the evidence room…heroin, which was taken from the defendant on two different occasions. I can call the defendant to the stand who will testify he was paid $50,000 to allow storage of your containers at the Whitmore Warehouse. You ordered Officer Mitchell to remove the heroin because you were afraid Mr. Whitmore might talk to the police and make a deal to avoid going to jail, did you not?"

At that moment Sgt. Ed Brown and Lt. Carl Reese exhorted George Williams into the courtroom and sat him down right behind the defense table. Eve Whitfield followed with another police officer escorting another man whom she seated at the back of the room.

"You had Officer Martinez of the San Francisco police department kill Officer Pete Mitchell and dump his body in Los Angeles. Did you not? You had George Williams shot with the intent to kill him in order to silence him. Did you not? You attempted twice to kill both Chief Robert Ironside and myself," Perry continued to thunder away.

"The gunmen who attempted to kill both Chief Ironside and myself were from Mr. DeValle's French mafia. That was confirmed early this morning. Would you like me to call one of those gunmen to the stand?" Mason boomed as Eve had the man she was holding stand up. Mason then lowered his voice to a mere whisper. "But your most grisly crime was ordering the murder of your own son. Wasn't it, Councilman?"

"That's a lie, Mason. Why would I kill my own son?" Martin shouted.

"Lt. David Martin had been investigating the Armada Trucking Company for drug trafficking in Los Angeles. When he got too close you moved the operation to San Francisco. You did not anticipate David would apply for a job here in San Francisco and continue his investigation. He found out you were the owner of the company and confronted you, did he not?"

"That's ridiculous. You have a very active imagination, Mason," Martin shouted.

"Do I? Did you not order the murder of your own son?" Mason boomed.

"NO! How many times do I have to tell you?" Martin continued to shout at Mason.

"Councilman, you did order George Williams to kill Lt. David Martin to keep him from exposing you. Did you order the murder of your own flesh and blood?

"Williams murdered my son. I had nothing to do with it," Martin roared.

Williams stood up and screamed, "You bastard, I am not taking the rap alone! He had me kill him. He said he would expose us all if he wasn't silenced. He and DeValle decided David had to die. They had me plant the evidence."

DeValle stood up. "Shut up, you fool," he yelled.

Martin broke down on the stand. He began to sob. "I didn't want to kill him. He would not listen. He kept quoting all that high and mighty crap he learned from you, Mason. God, I hate you! You and your moral high horse. He would not listen. He was going to turn us in." Martin leaped out of the witness stand straight at Perry Mason. Hamilton Burger raced to Perry and helped him subdue Martin who collapsed to the floor and continued to sob. Court officers moved in to take custody of him.

The courtroom broke out in chaos. "Order in the court!" Thatcher again banged his gavel several times before the crowd quieted down.

Perry walked back with Hamilton to the defense table and called out, "Your Honor, I move for a complete dismissal of all charges against the defendant."

"Mr. Richards?" Judge Thatcher asked.

A stunned John Richards stood up, looked at Mason and back to Judge Thatcher. "The prosecution concurs, Your Honor."

"Case dismissed." Thatcher banged the gavel once. "The defendant is ordered released. Bailiff, take Councilman Martin, Mr. DeValle and Mr. Williams into custody. I would suggest, Mr. District Attorney, you indict these men with the murder of Lt. David Martin."

Hamilton Burger reached out his hand to Perry. "That was amazing Perry, even for you."

Perry shook Burger's hand and smiled. "I can't thank you enough for putting aside our differences and helping with this case."

"We're not so different, Perry. I will tell you it is far more fun working with you than against you." Perry put his hand on Hamilton's shoulder and laughed. "Likewise, my friend."

Jim Whitmore was hugging his son. When he let go Scott walked over to Perry Mason. "My dad said you are the best there is and I could not agree more. I was in awe of you throughout this entire trial. I don't know how to thank you, Mr. Mason. There just are no words."

"You can thank me, Scott, by getting your life straightened out. That means getting things straightened out with your father as well. I think I can get the district attorney to forego any further charges but you will have to turn state's evidence. I'll make sure that is cleared up before I head back to Los Angeles," Mason told him.

Della walked over to her boss. "You simply amaze me, Mr. Mason."

Perry smiled and forced himself to refrain from any public display of affection. He whispered, "Give me a chance, Miss Street, and I'll amaze you even more."

Della chuckled.

Ironside wheeled his chair up to Perry. "Congratulations, Counselor. And thank you for helping nail the Lieutenant's murderers. Now how about everyone have one last dinner at my place to celebrate?"

Lt. Tragg came up behind Ironside. "Not if you are having chili again."

Della and Perry laughed.

"No, I was thinking more on the order of hot dogs…chili dogs that is," Ironside said with a great big grin. Tragg just shook his head as everyone laughed.

Perry and Hamilton picked up their paperwork and put it in their briefcases. Perry escorted Della out of the courtroom. As they came out the door they were mobbed by reporters. Perry walked over and stood beside Chief Ironside. Cameras were going off as the press crowded around Mason and Ironside.

"Mr. Mason, when did you know that Councilman Martin had his own son murdered?"

Mason directed his attention to the reporter. "Actually Chief Ironside was the first to figure it out," Mason said with a smile.

"Chief, are you finally going to admit that you and Perry Mason have been working together all along?" shouted a TV newsman.

"Mr. Mason and I were both searching for the truth. It was only logical for us to cooperate since Mr. Mason's people could handle the Los Angeles investigation and we could handle the investigation here along with Lt. Tragg and Paul Drake. The truth, gentlemen, that is what mattered here," Ironside said.

"Mr. Mason, a lot of people are saying that John Richards was completely outmatched by your superior skills," another reporter called out.

"Mr. Richards was at a disadvantage not because of his skills but because my client did not commit murder. The truth was on our side," Mason said. "Mr. Richards is a fine district attorney."

"That's it, boys," Ironside said. "I'm hungry." Ironside started wheeling his chair away. Perry and Della followed. When they arrived at Chief Ironside's van Ed was behind the wheel. Ironside wheeled onto the lift and entered the vehicle. Perry and Della got in.

Ed asked, "Chief, I have a couple questions…"

Ironside interrupted him. "We will have a wrap-up on the case over dinner. In the meantime we can't eat dinner until you get this vehicle moving, so move!"

Ed started the vehicle and headed to the police headquarters.

Epilog to follow…


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19. Epilog (Why the Resemblance?)

19.1

As Chief Ironside entered his attic office and residence everyone had gathered together one last time. Mark had set up a bar on one table with several different kinds of drinks available from simple juice to soft drinks to alcoholic beverages.

Paul was talking with Eve in what appeared to be a very private conversation. Ed, Carl and Lt. Tragg were arguing over football as to whom each thought was the best team in the NFL.

Hamilton Burger walked over to Perry and Della as they arrived. "How's the shoulder?" Hamilton asked Perry.

"Painful but I can live with it," Perry said.

"Perry, I have been thinking. I know you love to fish and I thought if you would like to go I know of a place where the fishing is great," Hamilton said.

Perry smiled. "I would love to. Check with Della when we get back and we will try to pick a long weekend both of us can go."

"We are still going to clash in court you know," Hamilton said with a slight smile.

"I would not have it any other way. I enjoy our sparring matches in court," Perry replied. "Richards gave me no competition. I would not have had it so easy if you had agreed to help him instead of me."

"You were very gracious in your remarks about him to the press," Hamilton pointed out.

"He's young and inexperienced. He will make a fine DA when he stops taking things personally and he has a few cases under his belt. Give him time," Perry said.

Hamilton smiled. "The poor guy did not have a chance especially after you and Chief Ironside joined forces."

Della said, "Perry is right. The man needs experience. I am sure he will be going over this case with a fine-tooth comb. He will learn from his mistakes."

Ironside wheeled over to Perry and said, "Perry, I would like you and Della to stay after everyone leaves. There is something I think you need to know. Something that is very important. It will explain some things that have been puzzling a lot of people."

Della and Perry looked at each other. "Alright, Chief," Perry said.

The door to the chief's office slammed open. Commissioner Randall came roaring in, "Bob, I want to talk you." It was obvious he was very upset about something.

"Come in, Commissioner. Did you get my invitation to dinner?" Ironside asked him.

Randall slammed a paper down on the table. "Would you mind explaining to me why the city is receiving a bill for $45,000 for 300 dolls? This is signed by you. What in blazes did you buy 300 dolls for?"

"I did not buy 300 dolls," Ironside said, stone-faced.

"What? Your signature appears on this bill," Randall said, confused.

By now everyone in the room was either snickering or laughing. "Why do I get the feeling I am the only one who does not know what is going on here?" Randall said.

Perry stepped forward but Ironside grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. "I am not sure what you are talking about," Ironside said with a straight face.

"Bob, look at this bill. It has your signature," Randall said.

Ironside took the bill. "That is not my signature. It doesn't even come close to matching my handwriting."

Randall grabbed the bill. Everyone was giggling and snickering, trying to refrain from all out laughter. "Alright, Bob. I want to know what is going on with this bill."

Perry spoke up, "Commissioner, I signed the bill as Chief Ironside when I went into that warehouse. I guess I did not realize what the size of the bill would be. However, the city is not going to have to pay it as the entire contents of the Doll House has been seized and the owners are in jail."

Randall glared at Ironside. "Bob…" Laughter broke out all over the room.

Ironside grinned, dimples prominent alongside his jaw. "Dennis, sit down, relax, and have a drink." He handed the commissioner a drink Mark had prepared for him. "You heard Perry. The city doesn't have to pay it. However, there is the matter of the cost of the services of Lt. Tragg, the Paul Drake Detective Agency, Hamilton Burger, Della Street, and Perry Mason."

Randall, who was about to take a sip of his drink, stopped. "You mean the city is being billed? For how much?" Randall asked with hesitation.

Ironside looked around the room and back to Randall and said, "Forty-five thousand dollars." Everyone in the room roared with laughter.

"Very funny Bob," Randall grumbled.

Mark walked over. "Dinner is ready, Chief."

Ironside began wheeling his chair to the table and looked back at his guests. "Well don't just stand there. Sit down!" he ordered, raising his voice.

Mark brought in a large platter of spare ribs, asparagus and small round roasted potatoes. Lt. Tragg smiled, "Well it is about time, Chief. I was afraid you were serious about those chili dogs."

"I was but Mark has a mind of his own," Ironside yelled out.

Everyone sat down. Food was passed. Drinks were poured and conversation started around the table.

"Chief, what made you suspect it was David Martin who murdered Lt. Martin?" Lt. Tragg asked.

"He tried to get Perry off the case right from the beginning. The commissioner told me he came to his office trying to have me removed from the case. When Dennis would not do it he tried to get the city council to pressure Dennis to remove me. He has known me long enough to know I would not stop until I found the killer. If he really wanted his son's killer caught, why would he want me removed?" Ironside said.

"Perry had Paul check into Martin's background and found out his mother's maiden name was Armada and we got a copy of the birth certificate for court. I just could not accept that Pierre DeValle did not have a partner, so I got a court order to allow me to get the original papers. They told a much different story than the papers David Martin provided. That is when we finally could tie David Martin to the Doll House. Then Paul's boys were able to tie him to the Los Angeles operation. We knew we had him on drug trafficking."

"Our problem was we could not tie him directly to the murder. George Williams would not cooperate. I directed Carl to check to see if there was a way he could have been bought. We found he had a sister with a lot of medical problems. He was her sole support. Martin got DeValle to pay her medical bills and had arranged to have the orphanage take her while Williams went to jail for murder. Williams loved his sister and was willing to go to jail in return for Melissa Williams' care," Ironside informed everyone. "When we got too close to the truth, Martin and DeValle decided Williams had to be eliminated."

Perry spoke up, "I asked the chief to have Williams in court to hear Martin's testimony. I knew the only way we were going to get Martin was with Williams. The chief went to work on Williams to convince him Martin had talked DeValle into killing him and not keep any promises to take care of Melissa Williams, as that would tie both of them to Lt. Martin's murder. The chief got Williams thinking. I had to get Martin to blame Williams for the murder. The chief and I felt that this, combined with the doubt the chief had planted in Williams' mind, would break Williams, which would then in turn break down Martin. When Martin did indeed blame him, Williams lost it. Chief Ironside had convinced him his sister was not going to be taken care of, so he decided to take Martin and DeValle down with him. He has confessed and provided plenty of information that will help put both Martin and DeValle away for life."

"I still just can't understand how the man could murder his own son," Eve said.

Paul shrugged. "I guess the threat of being arrested for drug trafficking was more unacceptable than killing his son."

"The real shame in this whole thing is Lt. Martin was an outstanding cop that broke the rules. He never should have gone solo on this. It cost him his life," Lt. Tragg said as he lowered his head and wiped a tear out of his eye.

Commissioner Randall raised his glass, "I want to congratulate all of you on a job well done. By combining efforts you have solved a tough, well publicized case. Everyone in this building was betting on the battle of the egos and it occurs to me egos never came into play in this case. Perry, I will actually be sorry to see you and your people return to Los Angeles. I was getting used to you hanging around."

Perry smiled, "Funny you should say that. We were just discussing before you came in that San Francisco would be a nice city to live and work in."

"I am not THAT sorry to see you go back to Los Angeles," Randall said. "It is enough to put up with Bob Ironside. Two of you would drive me insane."

Everyone shared a laugh. The rest of dinner consisted of small talk. When dinner finished Paul and Eve left together along with Ed, Mark and Carl for a place with drinking and dancing.

Hamilton looked at Tragg. "Well Arthur, aren't you going to join them for drinks and dancing?"

"I am headed for the motel for the first good night's sleep I have had since I got here. If you want to join me in sharing a case of beer you are welcome to do so," Tragg said as he got up to leave.

"Sounds good to me." Both men walked over to Robert Ironside and shook hands and left.

Robert T. Ironside wheeled to the kitchen and brought back a bottle of bourbon. As he arrived back at the table he poured a drink for Perry and then for Della and lastly for himself. Ironside turned his wheelchair toward his desk and wheeled his chair in its direction. When he arrived, he pulled out a large envelope and placed it between himself and the side of his chair. He then wheeled back to the table.

"Just before my mother died ten years ago, she made a startling confession. She told me that my father was not my biological father. My biological father was an officer in the army who was stationed in Korea. My mother had gone to Korea with the Red Cross to help out at a disaster that had occurred there. She met this officer and had a very short affair with him. She ended the affair just before returning to California and to her husband. She knew before she left that she was pregnant. She did not tell her husband of the affair. She announced shortly after coming home that she was pregnant. Naturally my father accepted that he was the father of her child. Months later I was born. I accepted all of my life that Samuel Ironside was my natural father. I respected and loved him as my father. My mother never told him that I was not his son. He died believing I was his son. She did not have the heart to tell him. Nor would she tell me who my real father was. She felt I only had the right to know and if I so chose to pursue the matter that was up to me.

"Naturally the detective in me could not accept not knowing. Using my position as Chief of Detectives at the time, I was able to enlist the help of the police department in my home town and in Seoul, Korea. I have a birth certificate that shows my mother and my father, Samuel Ironside, listed as my parents. The problem is I do not have the blood type of either of my parents. As you know, I would have to have one or the other's blood type. This proved Samuel Ironside was not my biological father. Through some digging on the part of all three police departments I was able to obtain the original birth certificate. How my mother was able to have it changed I do not know. I do indeed have the blood type of the man listed as my father on that birth certificate." Ironside handed the birth certificate to Perry Mason.

Perry took the birth certificate from Robert Ironside and placed it in front of both him and Della. Della gasps and covered her mouth. Perry raised an eyebrow with shock obvious in his expression. "Bob, are you sure about this?" Perry asked him.

"Yes, Perry. I made a trip to Korea and retraced my mother's activities. She definitely met and had an affair with the man on the certificate. But it is not the only proof that I have," Ironside told him. "When your father was in San Francisco four years ago, he was in a car accident. I was able to get a blood sample and have a DNA test done on it. I also had one done on myself. They matched, Perry. You and I are half-brothers."

All three sat in silence for several minutes. Della was the one who broke the silence. "It certainly explains why there is such a strong resemblance between the two of you. It explains why a bond between the two of you has grown so strong so fast."

Perry stood and started pacing. Ironside watched him choosing not to say anything, leaving Perry with his thoughts. "Does my father know that you are his son?"

"No, he doesn't. My mother never told him about me. She chose not too. She chose to allow my father, Samuel Ironside, to believe he was my father," Ironside said quietly.

"Bob, this has come as a total shock to me. I just assumed that our resemblance was just a coincidence. If you have known this for ten years why did you not contact me and tell me? Why are you telling me now?" Perry asked as he sat back down.

"It took me a year to get the original birth certificate and find a reason through the department to go to Korea. The rest of the proof as I said came four years ago with the DNA test. I did not see a reason to disrupt your life with this information. I have followed your career from the moment I knew and I must tell you I could not be more proud of the man you have become. Your parents did a fine job of instilling values in you. The work you do and the example you set are commendable," Ironside told him.

Perry looked into Robert Ironside's eyes. "Bob, you did not answer my question, why now?"

Ironside looked down. "I tried to make myself believe that it was because if I can find out then the press can if they choose to start digging after seeing the two of us together. But I would not be honest with myself. I had no brothers and sisters and both of my parents are gone. I have one aunt on my father's side who is still with me but that is all the family I have…other than Eve, Ed and Mark. I guess after having the chance to meet you and work with you I did not want you going back to Los Angeles without you knowing you have a brother here in San Francisco." Ironside looked up at Perry.

Della placed a hand over Ironside's very large one. Ironside smiled at her.

"Bob, you have plenty of family. My brothers and sister would welcome you with open arms. My father has a right to know about his oldest son," Perry said with animation.

Ironside shook his head. "No, Perry. No one will know but you, me and Della. You have not considered the strain this might cause on your parents' marriage. I will not be a party to that. I could not be a source of pain for your mother. Nor can I hurt my Aunt Victoria. She loved my mother and father and she loves me. She believes me to be a blood Ironside and I want it to remain that way."

Perry did not understand. "Then why tell me at all?"

"Because it was easy to ignore the fact that you are my brother when I did not know you but that has changed. I want to keep in touch with you and I would prefer to do it as brothers," Ironside told him.

Perry looked at his older brother and said quietly, "Alright, Bob. This information will remain in this room and we will keep in touch…as brothers." He got up and went to his brother and put his arms around him in a brotherly embrace. "I wish I could have been there for you when this happened," he said, referring to the shooting that put Ironside in the chair he was now in.

"It's getting late and you two have a plane to catch tomorrow," Ironside said without looking at Perry for fear he could not control his voice.

19.2

Perry and Della got into the taxi. Both were lost in their own thoughts. Finally Della reached for Perry's hand. "What are you thinking?"

Perry squeezed Della's hand. "I am thinking I wish Bob had agreed to meet my family and tell my father he is his son."

"You have to respect his wishes, Perry. He has his reasons," Della pointed out.

"I keep thinking about his father never knowing Bob was not really his son. And then I keep thinking about my father never knowing that Bob is his son," Perry frowned. "I will respect his wishes Della but I can't help but disagree with him."

"When you showed me that picture of Ironside in the newspaper I would never have dreamed this was the explanation for the resemblance between the two of you," Della said.

Perry laughed. "Me neither but I am happy he told me. And I am glad I got the opportunity to work with him. He's a brilliant detective. I should have told him how proud I am of him. I look forward to seeing him again. By the way, you always name all of our cases. What will you name this one?" he asked as he kissed Della.

Della looked at Perry and said, "Oh this one is easy to name. I will call it The Case of the Lookalike Detective."

The End.

**Watch for these two to pair up again in another case**!

I do not own any of the Perry Mason or Ironside characters and make no profit from this fictional writing. I commend Erle Stanley Gardner and Collier Young for the creation of these characters. I have however enjoyed hours upon hours of Raymond Burr's portrayal of both Perry Mason and Chief Robert T. Ironside. For that reason this story is dedicated to the memory the legendary actor.


End file.
